This project has conducted a nation-wide survey to better understand Australian producers’ needs and issues in relation to agricultural data. The survey included multiple industries and regions, to increase the researchers understanding of the range of issues facing different kinds of Australian producers in relation to agricultural data and identify the key factors, attitudes and perceptions that are likely to influence levels and trends in adoption of digital technologies in Australia agriculture.

The objective of this survey was to enhance the understanding of effective data technology adoption pathways, which take into account producers’ needs, perceived risks and benefits, and expectations across a wide range of agricultural industries.

To achieve the goals of the research project, the survey was designed to collect data toward the following objectives:

• To benchmark the current state of agricultural data systems, which include telecommunication infrastructure, the types of data collected and how they were stored, and the software used to manage the data;

• To examine how producers perceive the usefulness of the data in supporting farm management, their concerns over the ownership and privacy of the data they have collected, and the potential uses of aggregated agricultural data; and

• To explore producers’ willingness to share various types of data with different actors, which include other farmers, agricultural industry-based organisations, technology and service provider businesses, research institutes, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.