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. evokeAG. 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, evokeAG. 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.
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.
Australian agriculture is in the early stages of a dramatic disruption and a subsequent transition. There is rapid innovation across the entire value chain, investment in developing and scaling world-changing technologies and solutions, and we’re setting bullish targets on sustainability and environmental measures. But are we running the risk of leaving our farmers behind? Here farmer, Farmers2Founders project manager and evokeAG. 2023 Future Young Leader, Matt Anderson urges the Australian agtech industry to not leave our farmers behind.
Australia has the third largest marine area in the world and the ‘blue economy’ already contributes more than $81 billion* to the nation’s bottom line. And like land-based agriculture, there’s increasing pressure for the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth and to produce food and energy, while conserving the ecosystem.
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.
