The report, titled 'Connecting Australian Agriculture', argues that a full adoption of digital agriculture could increase the value of Australia's farm output by more than $20 billion per annum, but this will require network connectivity.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said that "what is happening with agtech is really jaw dropping" and that these new developments will depend on connectivity.

Gavin Williams, the regional and rural chief development officer with NBN, said that harnessing the "digital agricultural revolution" is the next big opportunity for the Australian farming sector.

"To fully exploit that opportunity we need really to see more collaboration between farmers, equipment vendors and network operators to really raise awareness with farmers about what's available today, what's possible in the future and, importantly, help lift their digital skills," he said.

On Tuesday, Charles Sturt University senior research fellow in spatial agriculture at the Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Jonathan Medway, gave a tour of the uni's Global Digital Farm to those involved with the paper.

The project involves applying as much technology as possible to the CSU farms and has been described as an example of the new paper in action.

"Communications is going to be central to be able to be sharing information from one sensor to another sensor, back to a dashboard, back to the maths and computing data and analysis teams in Bathurst," Mr Medway said.

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They have been exploring different options for communication, including Wagga-based company Zetifi, which is developing a high data capacity, multi-directional antenna.

"It's satellites and drones and robots, I mean what's not to love," Mr Medway said. "It's very likeable, it's very interesting; the key question is, is it usable, is it profitable?

"That's what the digital farm is, is taking the fun stuff, doing the hard yards and determining how do we make it [happen]."

The CEO and founder of Zetifi, Dan Winson, said the company has a long-term partnership with NBN and has been working to extend "connectivity out into the paddocks, so that farmers can have high bandwidth connectivity everywhere they need it".

Zetifi's team in Wagga is currently working on developing a range of products to improve connectivity on farms.

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