Success story of a Toowoomba start-up now transforming AgTech

A desire to help agriculture businesses better adopt technology has led a local company to deliver leading solutions around the world.

Managing Director of DataFarming, Tim Neale started the company with his wife Peta three years ago.

“So, it really drove us to start the business, and we sort of knew what was required and we took a leap of faith and kept Toowoomba as our home.”

“From there we built software and gradually got an increasing user base and now well over 25% of all grain growers in Australia use our platform,” said Mr Neale.

DataFarming provides data to over 22,000 farms across Australia, with the technology used in 50 different countries worldwide.

“The data enables farms to actually analyse the growth of their crops and pastures in real time.”

“Satellites are flying over every square metre of earth every few days, so we’re just delivering that data in a really easy to use and simple format so people can get the best value from that.”

“We’ve seen huge uptake in the technology because people are thirsty for new information about how they farm,” said Mr Neale.

DataFarming’s success story will be one of many shared at the 400M Agrifood Innovation Forum next week, hosted by Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise.

Bruce McConnel, TSBE Food Leaders Australia (FLA) General Manager said the event will bring together some world class leaders around the future of digitising our agriculture supply chains.

“Our farmers are becoming extremely tech savvy and looking to use data to get every ounce of productivity they can out of their business.”

“It’s vitally important that our agribusiness sector comes together to collaborate.”

“The sharing of knowledge and experience across the innovation journey is really vital for businesses to be able to get the most out of it,” said Mr McConnel.

Another speaker who will share their knowledge is Managing Director of Woods Foods, Angus Woods.

“I’m looking forward to being a panel member for the conference, it’s nice to share our own experiences as well as hear the experiences of others.”

“Innovation has proven to keep the ag industry alive and viable.”

“Innovation has allowed us to grow crops on less rain, grow varieties with better yields, be more productive without employing more people,” said Mr Woods.

The 400M Agrifood Innovation Forum will be held on 2 – 3 June, with tickets on sale here.