Southern Farming Systems join CeCC

27 March 2009

Southern Farming Systems (SFS) is a farm driven, non-profit organisation helping higher rainfall farmers with real world research and information to produce real world results. The organisation boasts 800 members in five branches across two states. It maintains international affiliations and has a strong link with the Foundation for Arable Research in New Zealand.

As a result of a review of current systems and processes, Southern Farming Systems is working with CeCC to access a secure and scaleable online service platform which is capable of supporting the immediate and longer term requirements of Southern Farming Systems and the SFS Website.

The first priority for Southern Farming Systems was to redesign the SFS Website and transfer it to a new hosting and content management environment. The new site delivers user friendly and intuitive content management tools to support ongoing maintenance. CeCC is also implementing a restricted access area of the website with separate sections for staff and members.

In addition to several website enhancements, the second project phase will support a significant enhancement of the member area and customisation to meet the specific needs of SFS. Some examples of the enhancements include:

Development of a customised knowledge management system to store and disseminate research and trial information via the SFS website.
Customised categorisation and trial entry system providing staff with the ability to upload and categorise trial documents.
Integration of live weather station data into the SFS website and home page. Investigate implementation of 24/7 webcam feeds from the SFS weather stations.

The new website went live on 18 March 2009.