Connected Farms CEO Tom Andrews Named NSW Finalist in the 2026 Australian Agriculture Awards

Connected Farms co-founder and CEO Tom Andrews was named a finalist in the NSW Westpac Innovation in Agriculture category at the 2026 Australian Agriculture Awards. The winners were announced in Sydney on 30 September. 

The Australian Agriculture Awards are a joint initiative of ACM Agri and the National Farmers' Federation, with platinum partners Westpac, Toyota and Nutrien Ag Solutions. The Innovation in Agriculture category recognises new practices, technologies and systems that can significantly improve outcomes for producers, and that can be adopted and scaled across other operations.

Congratulations to Bill and Jacqui Mitchellon taking out the category, and to all of this year's finalists.

Solving connectivity at the machine

On many farms, the machinery is high-tech but the connection isn't. Out in the field, mobile coverage drops out, and so do GPS guidance, telematics and machine data.

Tom's answer was CommsXtend. Rather than waiting for another tower, CommsXtend puts the connection on the machine itself. Every tractor, sprayer or harvester fitted with it becomes its own moving coverage zone, built for dust, vibration and constant movement. Paired with satellite backhaul through Connected Farms' work with Amazon Leo, it's designed to give farms with little or no mobile coverage the connectivity they need for guidance, remote diagnostics and, increasingly, autonomous equipment.

"Even four years ago, having basic Wi-Fi on a farm machine was economically unviable, unless you had a huge corporate farm that could spread the cost over many hectares," Tom told The Land ahead of the awards. "It's very simple now to put Wi-Fi in a cab. What we're seeing now is [demand for] security and reduction of latency."

Proven on real farms

CommsXtend is now running on farms across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and North America, including a private network rollout across around 100 farms in Weddin Shire, NSW.

The farmers using it put it best. "We can get full productivity out of our machines," says Scott Gladman, Farm Manager at Gleeson Farm. Will Rogers of Warakirri Cropping says the team now gets "a lot better use out of our current systems."

Built for farmers

For Tom, the work has always come back to the people on the land. Before Connected Farms, he and his wife Melissa travelled across remote Australia installing phone towers to support emergency services. Conversations with farmers along the way sparked the idea that became the company.

"Farmers here are very much on their own, and technology can help them make better decisions," Tom said. "We need farmers, and we need to make sure they have the technology to enable them, and make their lives better. The best thing you can put on land is a farmer's boots."

Read The Land's full feature: The end of black spots? One innovator's mission to supercharge farm connectivity