Western Australia farmer Ryan Skamp has teamed up with software engineer mate Lachie Ross to develop an app designed to improve machine route efficiency and reduce carbon emissions on farms.
The SKAN app – which is still in development – will be able to use the layout of a user’s farm to generate a paddock path that reduces machine hours for seeding, spraying, fertilising and harvesting, and therefore operating expenses and carbon emissions on large broad-acre farms.
SKAN Farming Logistics’ app has been fast-tracked through the 2024 GRDC GroundUp Program, which aims to accelerate solutions for Australia’s grains sector.
It will build off the agtech startup’s existing and commercially available web-based product AgSKAN, a GPS tracking platform for machines of any make and model. The technology presently requires farmers to upload paddock boundary files on a web-based program.
This platform will be used to service the AI algorithm software which will power the SKAN app.
Mr Skamp said SKAN would take the guesswork out of paddock planning for farmers.
“We are giving farmers a tool to automatically generate effective paddock paths, relieving them of the effort required by other similar products to generate it themselves. We are not reinventing the wheel, just making it turn faster,” Mr Skamp said.
The SKAN app under development is an AI and algorithm-based product that analyses paddock shapes and obstacles to give live instructions to farmers and tractor operators on the most efficient way to work the paddock. It will be an iOS and Android tablet-based product readily available to all growers, regardless of the brand or age of machinery owned, and useful for both training new staff and increasing efficiency with experienced operators.
“Making reductions in overall time spent working in paddocks will be a significant cost saver for growers who have massive operation expenses, particularly hourly machine costs,” Mr Skamp said.
“The main benefit to individual growers is the ability to save money on the bottom line. Seeding, spraying, fertilising and harvesting have unavoidable machine expenses, but our program can reduce that cost.”
The reduction in carbon emissions as a direct result of cutting machine hours will also benefit Australian grain growers looking to achieve sustainable farming solutions.
The app’s origin lies in a busy summer harvest at his farm in Moora, Western Australia, where Mr Skamp, then in his mid-20s, first recognised the opportunity for the paddock planning app.
His business partner Mr Ross has used his software engineering skills and experience in multiple tech innovations to guide the app’s development.
SKAN Farming Logistics has joined the GroundUp program to help spread the word about their innovation.
Supported by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), GroundUp is a 12-week accelerator program run by the Agtech and Logistics Hub, which is powered by AgriBusiness Connect.
It was launched to drive innovation in the Australian grains sector, with a grower-led focus to find real solutions to improve productivity.
AgriBusiness Connect CEO Thomas Hall said the innovators selected for this year’s GroundUp program had presented some extraordinary ideas.
“We are impressed with the quality of the 10 innovators in this year’s group, who were selected from a large number of quality applicants from across Australia and beyond,” he said.
“SKAN Farming Logistics is working towards an exciting solution to reduce operating expenses on large broad-acre farms, which in turn will reduce carbon emissions by reducing machine hours.