The
              Report

No. 80: Farmers conduct ‘virtual experiments’ on the internet


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A project funded by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) has demonstrated ways of using the internet for interactions between farmers in remote locations, their advisers and researchers to aid learning and decision making.

Researchers at the Agricultural Production Systems Research Unit (APSRU) set out to find out why after 15 years of research and development (R&D) and the release of various software products, farmers were not taking them up, despite dramatic increases in computer ownership.

The work centred on using data from soil monitoring with computer-based crop simulation. Dryland crop production is an important industry in northern Australia, but is a hazardous enterprise because of the often dry and always highly uncertain climate.

Researchers took into account similar negative take-up of software products designed to aid decision making in other fields, such as management science and medicine.

The Study

The project set out to invent, evaluate, and then pilot procedures for using the internet for dispersed and isolated farmers, advisers, and researchers to interact. The methodology used, which suits inquiry-concerning questions of ‘what is the best way to do…’ is known as action research. The central idea of action research is to formalise learning by experience as shown in the diagram.

Specific objectives of the project were to design and build:

  • a prototype web site for use by the research team and the Distance Education Centre (DEC – based at the University of Southern Queensland) – to provide an internet-based project management facility and a chance to test systems before use by the broader group including farmers and advisers;
  • a second web site to facilitate interaction between the researchers, the farmers, and their advisers – for all services related to interactions with the participants including video conferencing and application sharing (using NetMeeting™), as well as asynchronous web-based support and communication;
  • an online ‘what if’ forum to facilitate interactions between project participants – to enable participants to leave messages to be answered later by other participants;
  • a task-specific multimedia instructional application to support and stimulate farmer learning and interaction; and to
  • evaluate both the technology and the experience of participants in terms of effectiveness and efficiency.
    • After testing the prototype system, the second stage involved pilot online sessions with about 20 farmers from the Darling Downs in south-east Queensland and staff of an agribusiness consultancy further west at Goondiwindi. The farmers had already participated in simulation-aided discussion sessions within a previous group of projects known as FARMSCAPE.

    Consequently they had a well established appreciation of simulation as an aid to farm management – which meant they were able to evaluate the degree and nature of change that the internet delivery made.

    These farmers already valued simulation to aid:

  • diagnosis of past experience using ‘theoretical benchmarking’;
  • production decision making;
  • marketing decision making; and
  • evaluation of contemplated changes.
    • They were now looking to gain efficient and effective access.

    If these farmers, who supported face-to-face sessions, did not similarly value interaction via the internet, then enthusiasm of other farmers could not be expected.

    ‘Real-time’ interaction between farmers, advisers and researchers was facilitated, using a combination of ‘shared’ content via the internet and telephone-quality voice, supported by limited video acting as a social ‘lubricant’. The table shows characteristics involved.
     
      Video Audio Application sharing
    Characteristics · coupled with audio, simulates physical presence of participants

    · highly bandwidth dependant: only feasible on high capacity lines (>28kbs)

    · adds an additional ‘non-verbal human dimension’ to interactions

    · useful for interactions where the ‘non-verbal human dimension’ is important (eg administrative or project issues) 

    · limited to point-to-point

    		 · minimum requirement for all types of interaction

    · moderately bandwidth dependant: feasible on low capacity lines (>14kbs)

    · limited to point-to-point with internet based applications

    · multipoint through public telephone network

    · unsuitable where non-verbal communication is important

    		 · multi-point: reliable for <6 participants on medium to low bandwidth lines (ie 14bps – 28bps)

    · useful for interactions centred on application outputs (eg APSIM, Excel)

    · needs to be augmented by audio to be given meaning, context

    · adds richness to audio communication

    Stage three involved evaluating the technology, the experience of farmer/adviser participants, and the experience of researcher participants.

    The results

    The study demonstrated the practicality and efficiency of conducting interactive sessions online and showed these to be not only practical, but often preferred to meeting face-to-face, due to increased timeliness and reduced travel with resultant cost savings.

    The research showed that for this approach to be valued by farmers, the content of the sessions needed to be viewed, by farmers themselves, as highly significant to their management. This was achieved by using crop simulation over the internet as a way for remote farmers to conduct long-term ‘virtual experiments’ on their own properties using paddock-specific data.

    The results also suggest that farmers do not have the time and patience to make ‘chat’ a feasible means of communication. But the ‘what if’ sessions – which require an information-rich environment including graphs, interactive spreadsheets and simulation, along with a combination of audio, application sharing and video – all worked well.

    Several important additional points emerged.

    All software trialed in the project was readily available and reasonably inexpensive. The product the researchers piloted most extensively, Microsoft’s NetMeeting™, is available free of charge. Other software from a variety of vendors with comparable functionality, costs less than $150.

    Summary

    Crop simulation provides a way for farmer participants to conduct ‘virtual experiments’ on their own farms, using their individual soil and weather data. APSRU has spent several years developing a crop simulator known as the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM).

    APSIM is a sophisticated PC-based package able to simulate a variety of crops, in any specified soil for any specified climate. It uses soil data, which can be collected by individual farmers, together with their rainfall records to simulate crops for their own paddocks.

    Farmers were able to use APSIM on their own properties over various time periods, and for a range of variables which may otherwise be impossible due to sheer cost and scale.

    For instance a farmer might typically ask ‘What would have happened if I had planted on this or that date in the previous season?’ or ‘what if I had applied this amount of nitrogen on this date in the previous season?’ or ‘what if I apply this amount of fertiliser for this date and that crop in the coming season?’

    This then could be compared to what actually happened or happens, as a way for farmers to gain insight into their cropping system’s performance.
     

    Researcher Contact Details
     
    Name: Dr Robert McCown
    Address: 203 Tor St 
    TOOWOOMBA QLD 4350
    Phone: 07 4688 1390
    Fax: 07 4688 1190
    Email: bob.mccown@tag.csiro.au
    Website: www.farmscape.tag.csiro.au
    Dean Hargreaves
    203 Tor St 
    TOOWOOMBA QLD 4350
    07 4688 1458
    07 4688 1390
    dean.hargreaves@tag.csiro.au
    www.farmscape.tag.csiro.au

    RIRDC Contact Details

    Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation
    Level 1, AMA House
    42 Macquarie Street
    BARTON ACT 2600

    PO Box 4776
    KINGSTON ACT 2604

    Phone: 02 6272 4539
    Fax: 02 6272 5877
    Email: rirdc@rirdc.gov.au

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