Elevate Dairy Introduces Advanced AgTech Solutions in Victoria
Elevate Dairy, an initiative driven by the Gardiner Foundation in collaboration with Beanstalk AgTech, is preparing to launch a statewide roadshow in August 2026 across Victoria's key milksheds: Gippsland, Murray, and South West Victoria. This program aims to facilitate the adoption of cutting-edge agricultural technologies by connecting local dairy producers with both international and domestic AgTech developers.
The inaugural cohort of Elevate Dairy introduces seven innovative solutions targeting various operational bottlenecks within the dairy industry. One of the key solutions is Surge Energy's Embedded Energy as a Service (EEaaS) microgrid model, which integrates solar power, battery storage, and smart controls without requiring any upfront capital investment. This solution aims to address issues related to power reliability and high upgrade costs.
Another technology being introduced is Levno's real-time digital monitoring systems for milk vats, feed silos, and fuel tanks. In addition, K2 Agri presents the Skelex 360 exoskeleton, designed to provide lightweight arm support and alleviate shoulder strain during milking processes.
Focusing on software solutions, Resolution offers a multilingual farm management platform aimed at simplifying daily record-keeping, while UNIFORM-Agri provides advanced herd analytics for monitoring fertility, health, and feeding. Trev's software helps streamline processor compliance through comprehensive whole-farm financial benchmarking and input reporting.
Soil health and nutrient efficiency are addressed by Ocean2Earth, which produces composted seafood processing byproducts and kelp biofertilizers. This aims to enhance soil natural capital while reducing reliance on synthetic fertilizers.
An Industry Advisory Committee, consisting of Victorian dairy farmers, veterinarians, agribusiness executives, and agricultural researchers, was responsible for evaluating and selecting these technologies. The initiative comes at a time when Australian dairy producers face rising labor costs, stringent reporting requirements, and volatile input prices.
Gardiner Foundation CEO Allan Cameron emphasized that the goal of Elevate Dairy is to remove barriers to technology adoption by bringing vetted solutions directly to rural communities. Following the August roadshow, the program plans to open applications for a second cohort, which will focus on emerging technologies such as virtual fencing.
