Robots and artificial intelligence will replace workers on Australia's first fully automated farm created at a cost of $20 million. Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga will create the "hands-free farm" on a 1,900-hectare property to demonstrate what robots and artificial intelligence can do without workers in the paddock. Food Agility chief executive Richard Norton said the reality of "hands-free" farming' was closer than many people realised. "Full automation is not a distant concept. We already have mines in the Pilbara operated entirely through automation", he said "It's not beyond the realms of possibility that a farmer could be sitting in a study in front of a computer driving multiple vehicles".