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AgriFutures evokeAG 2020 conference wrap-up
☛ from P10 agtech,” he said.
“I see Elders’ role at the conference to be a voice of reason, ensuring the farmer is at the centre of eve- rything we see.
“While it is always fascinating to see the latest developments for agriculture, my message is that fun- damentally what re- ally matters is how developments address one thing – on-farm productivity.”
The end of the day saw delegates unite for the Festival of Food where insights were shared and the event’s highlights re- vealed.
Department of Pri- mary Industries and Regional Develop- ment WA manager Investment Susan Hall said evokeAG is a showcase of agtech not just nationally but internationally, and demonstrates how competitive Australia is in developing and adapting new tech- nologies.
“While agtech can’t solve all major issues facing agriculture in Australia, it can ab- solutely contribute to innovative solutions and advances for the industry,” she said.
“evokeAG puts Aus- tralia at the forefront of the agtech scene”
Another delegate, NSW Hunter Valley farmer Annie Rodg- ers attended the event along with her hus- band Rowan.
“We’ve had to de- stock a lot due to the ongoing drought and we’re at evokeAG to find out the latest in- novations in Austral- ian agriculture,” she said.
Day two
More than 1300 del- egates from 22 coun- tries filled the Royal Exhibition Build- ing in Melbourne for day two of evokeAG 2020.
Mr Harvey said evokeAG has once again delivered on its promise to deliver leading-edge farm- ing insights from the best in the world, and the response has been amazing.
“Armed with the latest technologies, innovations and in- sights, we can dive into 2020 knowing we have the ability to respond to our chang- ing markets and op- portunities across the agricultural indus- try.”
can best respond to population growth, increasing food con- sumption and a de- mand to cater for di- versified diets.
Hungry Jack’s founder Jack Cow- in told the Plenary Session a long-term strategy is needed in Australia to drive in- novation in agricul- ture.
“The DNA of Aus- tralia is entrepre- neurial, we are early tech adopters in this country and we’re well equipped in this regard,” said Mr Cowin.
“My concern is the big stuff – what are the building blocks this country needs to use to make us suc- cessful over the next 40 and 50 years.”
Head of startups in Australia and New Zealand at Amazon Web Services Ra- chael Neumann said research and develop- ment in startups is a critical foundation to drive innovation.
“At the moment Australia invests 1.87 percent as a percent- age of gross domes- tic product and the global average is 2.3 percent,” she said.
“In Israel, 4.9 per- cent of GDP is in- vested in R&D, so I think we still need to get better and from a policy perspective, if we want to drive innovation we need to exceed those num- bers.”
The two-day pro- gram saw more than 100 speakers from eight different coun- tries take to the stage to inspire, challenge and transform the way we think about food and farming into the future.
Highlights of day two included the breakout session on how industry is adapting to Austral- ia’s water shortages.
Murray Dairy stra- tegic project man- ager Amy Fay said producers are going through transforma- tive change in their businesses in order to achieve the step change in water use efficiency required.
“One example in the dairy industry is the move away from traditional perennial ryegrass species to other crops and for- ages that are more water use efficient or flexible in their wa- ter requirements,” she said.
“Adopting a differ- ent feedbase system can increase water use efficiency from 1t/ML to upwards of 3t/ML, or alternative- ly allow farmers to reduce irrigation al- together and use con-
served fodder when water availability is very tight.
“There are many ways farmers can in- crease water use effi- ciency on their farm.
“Across the indus- try, innovations in technology are only one small piece of the puzzle.
“Focusing on the value of water to their business, and the risks associated with volatile water availability will help farmers determine which practices are best suited to helping their business adapt to a water-limited fu- ture.”
Later in the after- noon, Matt Kovac (Food Industry Asia), Mike Lee (The Future Market), Leslie Revitt (Woolworths), Fayaz Khazi (Elo Life Sys- tems) and Tony Hunt- er (Futurist for Food) discussed the con- sumer trends impact- ing the food industry and the opportunities these trends are pre- senting for farmers, the supply chain and consumers.
Meanwhile, Cutri Fruit citrus grower Gaethan Cutri, the University of Syd- ney’s Prof Salah Sukkarieh and Ro- botics Plus’s Steven Saunders delved into whether farmers of the future will need a degree in genetics and robotics.
AgFunder’s found- ing partner Michael Dean capped off day two with exciting news that investment into Australia’s agri- food technology has jumped by 83 percent.
Fresh statistics in
AgFunder’s Agri- Food Tech Investing Report – 2019 reveal Australia’s total in- vestment is $90.3 million.
“Australia is one of the good news stories of 2019, with record growth in agrifood tech investment,” Mr Dean said.
“It is also pleasing to see startups from across the supply chain receiving in- vestment.
“There is still much todobutitisveryen- couraging to see such robust year-on-year growth over the past three years.”
Stay up to date with evokeAG 2021 event news by subscribing to news updates.
Contribute to the food, farm and fu- ture conversations by using the #evokeAG hashtag and fol- low evokeAG on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Insta- gram.
See you at evokeAG 2021 in Perth.
To kick off day two, leading Australian political journalist and former ABC In- siders program host Barrie Cassidy led
a robust panel dis- cussion on how we www.poultrynews.com.au
National Poultry Newspaper, March 2020 – Page 11