#evokeAG. 2023

There’s a wealth of innovative technology at a farmer’s fingertips, and plenty more on the way. But how do farmers make sense of all the data available generated from this technology and choose the right tools to run their businesses? What is holding farmers back from taking up this new technology and what does industry or government need to do to assist?

Australian diners will soon have the option to tuck into a piece of meat grown from animal cells in a laboratory rather than a paddock. Synthetic biology, or SynBio, is also helping to engineer ingredients for plant-based proteins, design crops for fuel production, and the development of insecticides with the help of bespoke microbes.

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.

Farmers are increasingly expected to share sustainability metrics with their supply chain, customers, consumers and others, and acquiring those metrics can be complicated and expensive. A panel discussion presented by evoke^AG. 2023 Silver Partner CommBank, concluded that measurement is not only vital, but can deliver great opportunity on and off farm.

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.

Where they once went head-to-head at the negotiation table, Michael Hampson and Jim Fader are now combining forces to bring a lab-brewed, dairy-free milk to market. The pair say ‘Eden Brew’ could be a billion-dollar company – and they want dairy farmers to have a slice of the pie.

The push for Australian farmers to have the right to fix their own machinery has been in the headlines since a leading manufacturer reached a deal with farmers in the United States of America in 2021. Andrew Cooke and Andrew Skinner argue ‘the right to repair’ shouldn’t just apply to farm tools like tractors and headers, but also to data. They say while few producers are also technologists, every producer deserves to control and re-use their own data.

For a second consecutive day 1,600, innovators, investors, researchers, founders and producers flocked to the Adelaide Convention Centre for AgriFutures evoke^AG. 2023 – the Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood tech event.

The atmosphere was electric as 1,600 delegates from 18 countries filled the Adelaide Convention Centre today, to connect and collaborate for the future of Australian farming businesses and our global food system.

Developing innovative solutions and technology to make agriculture easier, more profitable, or sustainable is one thing, but getting farmers to use it is often a challenge. A new initiative by Farmers2Founders (F2F), is focused on breaking down the critical barriers to agtech adoption by putting the farmer first, building connections and removing some of the risk.

The Australian agriculture industry is expected to reach $100 billion in production by 2030, according to recent research, making it an ideal expansion market for UK businesses. Through the new Free Trade Agreement* — and two targeted programs, the Global Business Innovation Programme and the Global Incubator Programme — Great Britain is placing a big bet on Australia and a delegation headed to evoke^AG. 2023 to connect with potential Australian investors, partners and customers.

Denmark is best known for Vikings, Hans Christian Andersen and for being one of the happiest Nations in the world. The Scandinavian country is also a hotbed of agricultural innovation — and with thanks to the Trade Council of Denmark a delegation of world-class companies attended evoke^AG.: Down to Earth in Adelaide on 21-22 February 2023. We’ve pulled together a summary of the six Danish companies that attended to save you time.