Computronics moves to farm the North American market

IN a bid to pursue opportunities in Canada and the US, the agricultural division of electronics specialist, Computronics Corporation Limited, has opened an office in Saskatoon, Canada.

The announcement follows the Technology Park-based firm’s entry into an agreement to supply Farmscan seed rate controllers to Morris Industries, a major North American manufacturer and exporter of seed machinery and hay handling equipment.

The company also is in discussions with other major players in North America regarding Farmscan technologies, as part of an expansion plan into the region.

Morris has been testing the Farmscan Canlink 3000 variable rate controller in Canada for the past three seasons and will release the new system next month.

Computronics sales and marketing director David Sharp said the deal with Morris was a “significant endorsement” of the company’s technology and was “an important launch point for Farmscan into North America”.

He said advanced technologies were playing an increasing role in agriculture, particularly in managing crop production activities.

Mr Sharp said Canadian farmers, like Australian farmers, tended to be early adopters of technology that improved farming efficiency, and that both countries used similar broadacre farming techniques.

“Our technology was very well received, there is no doubt Computronics has much to offer the world in broadacre farming and technology,” he said.

“We are in the right place at the right time in a market with increasing demands on food quality and environment sustainability.”

Morris general manager Ken Ketowish said Morris chose Computronics technology because it was a world leader.

“We searched the world for a user-friendly but high-tech controller and found the solution in Western Australia; the Farmscan system is far ahead of anything else out there,” he said.

Computronics’ expansion into North America is being funded by capital raised from the company’s listing on the Australian Stock Exchange in January 2003.

Computronics specialises in the development and manufacture of microcomputer-based products for the agricultural, leisure and transport industries.

The company’s farming division designs and manufactures a range of computerised farm equipment, including monitoring and control systems.

While last year’s drought conditions throughout parts of Australia affected the company’s agricultural division – with its other divisions affected by the downturn in construction, tourism and entertainment sectors due to concerns over SARS and terrorism – Computronics reported a profit of $398,326 for the past financial year.