As 2030 looms, our climate is in crisis, the sustainability targets set by big business seem a mile away – and food producers are being pressured to make up the shortfall. But is on-farm action enough? Or do we need to rethink the entire system that funds agriculture? Here, thought leaders in sustainability and finance unpack the path to a new climate economy, and why – in the defining race of our time – we can’t leave primary producers behind.
This week we bring you our evokeAG. 2024 series with Olympia Yarger and Sally-Ann Williams joining our contributor Jayne Cuddihy in conversation, exploring everything from the deep tech sector in Australia, to the realities of being a female founder.
Guy Coleman, 29, is the youngest of three, equipping him with the innate ability to share everything perfectly evenly. A self-confessed geek, obsessed with agriculture who grew up dreaming of getting a Clauss Lexion harvester for his birthday (spoiler: it never happened). He’s also an advocate for building on the foundations to get agtech back to the fundamentals of farmer and community driven innovation.
This week we bring you our evokeAG. 2024 series with Julia Spicer and Salvo Vitelli joining our contributor Jayne Cuddihy in conversation to explore why Queensland ticks all the boxes for evokeAG. 2025.
Recipe: take a generous serving of a thriving and open local ecosystem. Add a hefty dash of a community hungry for innovation and solutions. Mix with passionate, open-minded people. What have you got? Queensland – the ideal place to host AgriFutures evokeAG. 2025 – and the perfect platform for Queensland organisations and innovators to now consider how they would like to be involved.
What do you get when you have leading international agrifood tech venture capitalists (VCs) and top tier private equity investors on a panel? A lot of predictions about the future, of course. But this year a panel at evokeAG. 2024 also spoke openly about their reflections and the stark reality - a downturn in investment, coupled with geopolitical relations and inflation brings further financial headwinds. However, it’s certainly not all bad news. While entrepreneurs don’t have as much money to access from VCs, the overall agrifood tech ecosystem is maturing, with a broader awareness of the sector.
With the World Economic Forum predicting an estimated $10 trillion business opportunity for nature investments by 2030, investors are becoming increasingly interested in natural capital. But, while natural capital is the latest phrase on everyone’s lips, taking it from a concept to achieving real-world, valuable outcomes is challenging.
Carbon is the currency of modern agriculture, so it’s no surprise that attendees at AgriFutures evokeAG. 2024 were keen to know how Australia’s ag sector can overcome its stubbornly slow adoption of low-carbon solutions. As we hurtle towards 2030 (D-Day for most decarbonisation pledges both in Australia and internationally) market and regulatory pressures to reduce GHG emissions are bearing down upon the agrifood supply chain. Despite the urgency to respond, Australian producers aren’t yet flocking to low carbon production.
Here, top academics, early adopters, and sustainable livestock feed innovators share their truths on why adoption is lagging, and how we can drive faster progress.
Youth climate rallies, rising costs of living, food insecurity and farmers taking tractors to the streets in protest. To solve the world’s environmental problems Dr Lewis Akenji, Managing Director of the Hot or Cool Institute, says we need to tackle social tensions first – and that means addressing food systems sustainability with a five-step approach for a future-fit agrifood culture.
The price of fresh food and how the profits are shared along the supply chain from producer to check-out is under scrutiny, in both parliamentary and ACCC inquiries, in the media, and around the dinner table.
But how can fresh food producers pivot business models to get better outcomes? And what role does technology play in unlocking opportunities throughout the supply chain?
