evoke^AG., Asia-Pacific’s premier agrifood innovation event, has today launched its 2026 Program and Startup cohort, featuring a dynamic mix of bold discussions, thought-provoking keynotes and groundbreaking enterprises shaping the future of agriculture.

Australian Agritech Association (AusAgritech), Australia’s peak body for agriculture technology has announced a strategic partnership with AgriFutures’ flagship international event, evoke^AG. 2026. The collaboration will strengthen Australia’s position as a global leader in agritech innovation and provide new opportunities for scaleups, startups and investors across the sector.

Climate change is no longer a theoretical risk to Australian agriculture. It’s an economic and operational challenge for today’s producers. Across farming systems, the effects of climate variability are already shaping productivity, land values, and long-term viability. Climate change inaction compounds these pressures, increasing exposure to the impacts of a changing climate (such as water scarcity, heat stress, and extreme weather) while narrowing the window for effective adaptation.

Australia's agricultural sector is entering a new era of innovation, collaboration, and opportunity. evoke^AG. 2026 brings together producers, researchers, technology developers, and industry leaders to explore practical solutions and emerging opportunities shaping the future of Australian agriculture. With a dedicated program featuring producer focused sessions, evoke^AG. 2026 offers valuable insights into innovation adoption, climate adaptation strategies, emerging technologies, and market dynamics - all designed to support producers in navigating today's challenges and opportunities.

After overcoming a life-threatening spinal tumour Sam Rogers was climbing in the Himalayas when he came up with the idea for an autonomous drone mustering system. The 18 year-old’s next challenge is taking his innovation to the global stage as an evoke^AG. Groundbreaker.

Today’s food and fibre producers are navigating tighter margins, shifting climate conditions, and growing scrutiny over land stewardship. But at the same time, the way we manage our soils, vegetation, and production systems could be the most scalable opportunities our country has to draw carbon out of the atmosphere.

Climate change is already reshaping the conditions under which food is grown, and the risks of inaction are becoming increasingly clear. Rising temperatures, more frequent extreme weather events, and shifting rainfall patterns are placing sustained pressure on yields, farm profitability, and long-term land productivity.

Open source innovation may emerge as one of the most important philosophies to shape our agrifood future. What began as a software movement has evolved into a powerful framework for accelerating scientific progress, reducing development costs, and strengthening resilience across complex industries. As global agriculture confronts climate risk, labour constraints, shifting biosecurity pressures, and increasing digitalisation, open source innovation models offer a pathway to scale solutions faster, more transparently, and with broader industry benefit.

For cattle producers, fencing is a non-negotiable. But it’s also costly to erect, unable to be moved easily, and – when you factor in the need for regular checks and repairs – sometimes quite a drain on producer time. But what if the fence didn’t need to be built at all? That’s the promise of virtual fencing, a paradigm shift toward more efficient, responsive, and sustainable livestock management.

Oceans cover more than 70% of the planet, comprise 90% of the Earth’s biosphere, transport 80% of global goods, and host sea cables carrying 98% of global internet traffic. Oceans generate an estimated $1.5 trillion in economic value each year – while also regulating our climate, producing 50% of our oxygen, and directly supporting the livelihoods of 3 billion people. Yet warming waters, biodiversity loss, pollution, and overextraction are placing unprecedented strain on these systems.

With a global population projected to reach 9 billion in just over a decade, food security has become a critical global and national priority, central to community wellbeing, economic stability, and ecosystem resilience. In Australia and around the world, food security shapes policy, innovation, and the strategic direction of agriculture.

And as farming systems face increasing pressures, from climate change to biodiversity loss, understanding food security has never been more important.

A tool to measure multiple soil properties, ‘below ground Wi-Fi’ to transmit data from sensors, and an ‘e-nose’ to monitor biological activity. Dig deeper into the innovative tech from the Soil CRC.

Instead of making predictions, this essay maps dependencies. Rather than claiming "X will happen by 2030," it asks: "What conditions must align for X to become real?" Four major forces get the dependency treatment: GLP-1 appetite suppressants reshaping food demand, AI tools accelerating product development, regenerative agriculture's climb out of pilot purgatory, and hybrid proteins as the pragmatic compromise the industry doesn't want to admit it needs. For each, I identify the specific economic, regulatory, or behavioral conditions that must resolve favorably for the technology to scale - and what happens if they don't.

After 7 years, evoke^AG. is returning to Melbourne, the city where it all began… and a lot has changed. Back in 2019, ‘agtech’ was a word most people hadn’t even heard of, let alone invested in. To reflect on how the industry has evolved and what the future might look like, Kirsten Diprose sat down with three industry change-makers: Matthew Pryor (Tenacious Ventures), Dr Angeline Achariya (Innovation GameChangers) and Dallas Pearce (AgriFutures).

Planting trees in biodegradable pots made from the waste of trees. Teenage entrepreneur Elisa Harley came up with this circular solution as an alternative to the 350 million plastic pots used in Aotearoa New Zealand each year. But she couldn’t have done without some industry connections and a kitchen blender.

With an agricultural background and driven to develop practical solutions, New Zealand based evoke^AG. Groundbreaker, Jade Luxton has developed a simple but clever tool for sterilising livestock vaccination needle. It’s an innovation set to help farmers and improve animal welfare.