The future is here

The Mallee Regional Innovation Centre’s recent Growing Smarter in the Mallee ag tech summit highlighted what an exciting time it is to be in horticulture.

About 250 people converged at the SuniTAFE Smart Farm just outside of Mildura on 5 and 6 May for the opportunity to see and discuss some of the cutting-edge technology and innovations being used to address challenges in the industry and region.

^{Growing Smarter in the Mallee ag tech summit launch and farm tours} 

MRIC chief executive Rebecca Wells said the event allowed people from across different industries to come together and learn from each other, with people attending from other regions, Melbourne, Adelaide and as far away as Brisbane.

“We started out with an idea of bringing an event to the region – one that you would normally find in a capital city,” Rebecca said. “We wanted to put something of scale together and make it accessible.

There is lots of information and technologies out there, and this event opened a doorway for people to be able to hear from and follow up with the researchers and providers who spoke at panel sessions, were at the trade stalls or were demonstrating equipment.

Rebecca said attendees got to see and learn about prototypes, patented applications and the latest innovations and influences on industry, including options for data collection, traceability, and what energy may look like in the future.

“You could listen to a panel session with speakers and then head out of the tent and see a practical demonstration, go on a farm tour, attend a workshop or visit a trade stall to get the depth of knowledge for what you were interested in,” she said.

^{Practical demonstrations and trade stalls were a feature of the Growing Smarter in the Mallee ag tech summit}

A delegate approached me at the end of the event and said how they had thought all these things were theoretical. But in fact, it's not. It's happening now. For that grower, it really changed how they were viewing future tech and its applications for industry.

The evokeAg dinner was also a highlight, with a presentation on the future of the agri-food system from Matthew Pryor from Tenacious Ventures. You can access the Future Forces report that Matthew spoke about here.

Rebecca said the feedback from the event had been very positive, and the team was keen to look at making Growing Smarter in the Mallee a biennial event.

To assist in planning for next time, please help us out by completing our very short survey available here.