The approach is to collate experiences of farmers, agencies, producer groups, agricultural equipment suppliers and researchers who are using or marketing precision farming techniques, in order to identify social, technical, management and institutional issues related to the more efficient uptake of the technology for policy consideration. Precision farming, also called site-specific management, is different to traditional or average farming which treats paddocks as homogeneous units with uniform inputs and cultivation. Precision management is one response to the economic pressures faced by Australian agriculture as a result of globalisation of markets, declining terms of trade and environmental concerns. Precision management principles are applicable to all agricultural sectors, including broadacre cropping, pastoral land use and intensive cultivation. Fully integrated PA systems will not be economically viable for all farm businesses, although yield monitoring alone has been shown to help understand production and to improve management decisions.
Agriculture is a comparative latecomer to the so-called information age .
Although land management data are increasingly available in digital format, most whole property and local planning is still heavily reliant on the manual manipulation of hard copy maps and aerial photography. The systematic collection of farm information is also the exception rather than the rule. Information which is relevant, fine-scale and timely is central to successful precision management. Better farm information and its more effective use can contribute to achieving production and sustainability goals. Using DGPS technology, crop performance which was previously assessed intuitively is able to be measured with an accuracy of a few metres or less.