An innovative research project by a Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F) information guru has inspired a new agribusiness service industry.

Producers can now find the business software they need at the click of a button.

Townsville-based DPI&F industry services officer JoAnn Resing published Australia´s first agribusiness software database in 2007 after securing RIRDC funding for the project.

"The database was published on the Australian Government´s website and became an instant hit with web users across the country," Ms Resing said.

The Australian Farmer´s Guide to Software is available online at www.dpi.qld.gov.au/farmsoftware/ - where it can be read online or downloaded - but be warned, it´s a big book.

That´s where Australian ingenuity enters the picture. A group of Australian entrepreneurs came across the farm software guide and decided to take this data to the next level, producing an interactive software selection tool that is now loaded with business software for the agricultural industry.

Ms Resing said the success of the DPI&F database, and the subsequent enterprises it had inspired, demonstrated how this department was extending its services way past the farm gate.

"It´s great that private companies have taken our research and used it to create a whole new agri-support industry," she said.

"There are opportunities for Queensland agribusiness who embrace technology, and it really shows our industries are working even smarter.

"Not only has the database prompted private industry to identify a commercial need, it has improved information accessibility for any Australian agribusiness person with access to a computer."

For more information about the farm software database contact Ms Resing at joann.resing@dpi.qld.gov.au

Media contact: Andrea Corby, +61 7 4760 1548