Dr Brett Whelan

Research interests

Precision Agriculture (PA) is a management philosophy that promotes the targeted and efficient use of farm inputs while minimising the environmental impact of farming operations.

My research has been aimed at utilising geospatial information gathered from numerous sources to develop PA as a practical crop management system for the grains, cotton, viticulture and horticultural industries. This is being achieved on commercial farms using techniques and procedures for quantifying spatially-manageable variability within paddocks using remote and proximal sensing systems, then defining management classes or ‘zones’ for variable-rate treatment.

These days the use of in-season crop reflectance sensors is enabling the incorporation of seasonal conditions into the management decisions. A practical system for achieving incorporation of PA in Australian farm management has been released in 2007.

Background

Brett Whelan has a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and a PhD (Precision Agriculture), both from the University of Sydney.

He is a founding co-convenor of the annual Symposium on Precision Agriculture (PA) in Australasia, now in its 13th year as a national forum for developments in PA.

The ACPA also provides information and instruction for the wider national and international agricultural communities, along with consultancy on PA data gathering, mapping, interpretation and farm management implications.

Brett has developed and taught PA as an undergraduate subject for the past 9 years and am currently co-supervising 2 undergraduate and 2 postgraduate students in the field of PA.

Recent publications

• Cook, S.E., Adams, M.L., Bramley, R.G.V & Whelan, B.M. (2006). Current Status: Australia. In: A.Srinivasan (Ed), Precision Agriculture - Principles and Applications. Haworth Food Products Press, New York. ISBN-13: 978 1 56022 954 4.
• Clifford, D, McBratney, A.B., Taylor, J.A. & Whelan, B.M. (2006). Generalised analysis of spatial variation in yield monitor data. J.Agric. Science 144: 45-51.
• Whelan, B.M. ( 2007). Precision agriculture: an introduction to concepts, analysis & interpretation. ACPA, http://www.usyd.edu.au/su/agric/acpa/GRDC/EDresources.htm
• Whelan, B.M. & Taylor, J.A. (2007). A process for implementing site-specific crop management. ACPA, http://www.usyd.edu.au/su/agric/acpa/GRDC/EDresources.htm
• Taylor J.A. & Whelan B.M. (2007) On-the-go grain quality monitoring: a review. In ‘Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium of Precision Agriculture SIAP07, Vicosa, Brasil.’ 15p (Universidade Federal de Vicosa: Vicosa, Brasil)
• Taylor, J.A., McBratney, A.B. and Whelan, B.M.(2007). Establishing management classes for broadacre grain production. Agronomy Journal 99: 1366-1376.
• de Oliveira, R. & Whelan, B.M. (2008). An index for evaluating crop production variability from remote and proximal sensor data. In: Global Issues, Paddock Action: Proceedings of the 14th Australian Agronomy Conference 21-25 September 2008, Adelaide, South Australia. Australian Society of Agronomy.(CD publication)
• Whelan, B.M., Taylor, J.A. & Hassall, J.A. (in press). Site-specific variation in wheat grain protein concentration and wheat grain yield measured on an Australian fram using harvester-mounted on-the-go sensors. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research.
• Florin, M.J. McBratney, A.B. & Whelan, B.M. (in press). Quantification and comparison of wheat yield across space and time. European Journal of Agronomy.
• Whelan, B.M., Sun, Y., Zeng, Q, Shulze Lammers, P. & Hassall, J. (sumitted). Paddock-scale draught resistance and soil moisture measurement in Australia using a tine-based force/capacitance sensing system. Chapter 37 In: High Resolution Digital Soil Sensing and Mapping, Sydney, Australia.

Contact

Email:
Website: www.usyd.edu.au/su/agric/acpa