#Climate Change

Plant breeders are in a race against time to deliver crop varieties that can survive more frequent, prolonged, and severe heat events. A new research project by The Agrifood Innovation Institute is helping plant breeders accelerate the development of heat tolerant wheat – and insure the global food system against climate-induced harvest failures.

Four interwoven challenges: climate, COVID-19, conflict, and cost have disrupted agrifood supply chains and led to skyrocketing costs for farm inputs, all set amongst fears for global food security and the transition to a decarbonised economy.

A quick disclosure — I love M.J. Bale suits. I was married in one, and most items in my wardrobe that aren’t workwear bear its label. The popularity of the Australian menswear brand shouldn't mean that it needs to worry about things like ethical clothing or sustainability, which have become selling points with consumers. It speaks to the morality of the clothier that it does. After becoming Australia’s first carbon-neutral fashion brand in 2021, the tailors to farmers, footballers and the top end of town have partnered with Sea Forest, an environmental technology company based in Tasmania, to further decarbonise their business by attacking the gassiest part – the sheep that produce the wool.

As the MC for evoke^AG.’s second Investor Pitch Dinner, Tenacious Ventures’ Sarah Nolet remarked on how much things had changed since the previous evoke^AG. in 2020 and its first Investor Pitch Dinner. Australian agritech has gone from aspiring to be a global player, Sarah says, to ‘fully established, proving to the world that we’ve arrived and we’re here to stay’. So where are Australia’s areas of global advantage, and what’s the key to maximising the future for the agrifood tech ecosystem?

In this Food Futurists x evoke^AG. collab podcast Professor Andy Lowe speaks with Peter Wren-Hilton, CEO of Wharf42 and Convenor of the 2035 Oceania Summit about the importance of collaboration and agritech innovation to address climate change.

Founder of agritech forecasting software, myFARMSMART, Lucy Anderton is empowering farmers to take a calculated approach to business and ‘have more fun’. By using integrated science-based algorithms with individual farm data, this predictive tool is helping WA farmers better manage change and increase profitability – and is now seeking investment to scale operations.

This week, Oli Madgett, grape grower and Founder of Platfarm, talks with Sarah Nolet from AgThentic about the future forces impacting agriculture, taking a longer look at how climate volatility will not only usher in migration of people, but also shifts in growing regions and methods for production.

As the Managing Partner of Omnivore – the largest and oldest player in the Indian agritech venture scene – Mark Kahn understands what it takes to really ‘make it’ after building a venture capital firm from the ground up that’s pioneered agritech investing in India.

Meet Tegan Nock, Australia’s golden girl for soil health and co-founder of Orange-based startup, Soil Carbon Co. Tegan is empowering farmers to boost soil carbon, using microbial technology, which could help sink billions of tonnes of carbon and offers a tradeable commodity.

Huon Aquaculture has grown from a sideline business to an internationally-recognised supplier of farmed salmon, but for executive director Frances Bender, it’s the quiet things that really matter.

Too often founders are fixated with “making a difference” whether it be social or environmental and miss the mark on delivering the financial returns that every investor expects. So how do you find the right balance and meet your customer’s needs?

Growing tomatoes in the desert using nothing but sunlight and seawater is a quantum leap forward for agtech innovation. So how can we scale this technology and find remote labour to help power Australia’s low-carbon food system?