Australia’s first comprehensive active farm safety research program is due to be launched by national digital safety solutions specialist AirAgri and is seeking 1000 of the nation’s landholders to be involved.

This ground-breaking program, the 1000 Farm Safety Project, is set to run throughout 2024, with the aim to recruit 1000 properties across Australia to take part at no cost to them, and to transform how Australians protect their farming families, employees and teammates.

AirAgri co-founder James Diamond said a diverse selection of agricultural businesses were sought to provide an equal representative of the industry.

“This ambitious project is 100 per cent funded and run by Australians, underscoring our commitment to local industry and homegrown innovation,” Mr Diamond said.

“All collected data will be exclusively handled by our Australian team, ensuring total privacy and domestic control.

“The program has a hands-on approach to safety with benefits including property specific weather and automated inductions at property level.”

In addition to seeking commercial support from the industry and private sector, AirAgri will deploy and run a cutting-edge software solution on all 1000 farms for 12 months, free of charge.

Mr Diamond said the program would focus on delivering property-specific data at the right time through the most effective channels to aid in safe and sustainable decision making.

“Participating farmers will have access to precision weather insights and alerts like never before, enabling them to make safer and more accurate decision based on their property rather than district level,” he said.

“This pioneering new technology also addresses mental health concerns by using one of the world’s first software medical devices, currently in the final stages of Food and Drug Administration and Therapeutic Goods Administration approval, designed to aid in diagnosing mental health issues in rural Australia.

“We believe this is a significant milestone for the entire industry and is exclusive to AirAgri.

“AirAgri can implement active farm safety alerts and alarms for lone workers, regardless of existing connectivity, removing the unwanted anxiety when loved ones are late back to the house.”

Earlier this year, AirAgri launched a mobile app which works in conjunction with a pocket-sized iOT (Internet of Things) tracking device.

The tracking device uses the Telstra Cat M1 network, giving extended coverage across Australia.

“AirAgri provides a series of automated safety notifications using proprietary rules, location, emergency and medical information, along with access to inventory and safe handling working documents like a digital filing cabinet sitting on the farmer’s phone,” Mr Diamond said.

“We are actively seeking to engage and roll out this technology ultimately designed to save lives and bring Aussie farming families home at the end of every day.

“We realise every farm is different and that is why we have put out the call to 1000 farmers to put their hand up – whether they are broadacre or livestock. We want a collective group we can work with on the project for 12 months, measuring the success and working with them to build more proactive safety tools.”

AirAgri has been successful in being selected to complete Farmers2Founders Hatched and Honed program along with the “Rocket Seeder” pre-acceleration program, co-funded by LaunchVic and Agriculture Victoria.

AirAgri was announced on August 17 as one of seven grant recipients from the AgTech Grants program, which offers equity free $50,000 grants to aspiring AgTech founders.

For more information on the 1000 Farm Safety Project or to register your interest, visit: www.airagri.com.au/apply-for-the-1000-farm-safety-project-in-2024/