Last week I had the opportunity to attend GrowAg, a top innovation summit for 100 of “agriculture’s sharpest, most innovative leaders”. The delegates, who had to apply and be selected, came from all over Australia and represented various sectors and specialties with Agriculture.

I attended GrowAg on behalf of one of my clients, Full Profile, to talk about the potential of blockchains for agriculture, and give an overview of their soon-to-launch AgriDigital platform. You can check out the Full Profile team’s reflections on GrowAg here.

The 3-day event, hosted by RIRDC, featured an impressive lineup of keynotes and panelists from the public and private sectors. The goal of the event was to “provide a detailed look at the role technology and innovation in driving Australia’s agriculture futur,” and create opportunities for meaningful discussions with the future leaders of the industry.

Here are my five takeaways:

(1) Pay attention to macro trends

Many of the speakers, including Xavier Rizos of Westpac, alluded to increasing pressures and shifting dynamics that will impact Australian agriculture. For example, players throughout the supply chain need to keep an eye on China with its rapidly urbanizing population and growing middle class. Not only is the Chinese consumer a potential customer, but Chinese investors will also continue to be important stakeholders and investors. Businesses will need to understand and adapt appropriately to be successful. Overall, though, China is but one example of the macro trends of urbanization and demographic shift that are manifesting globally. Where will food come from if everyone lives in the city? What products and qualities will be in demand as incomes rise? These questions are critical, and the answers are evolving rapidly.

Consolidation is another macro trend that arose throughout the conference. With Bayer and Monsanto in the news recently, and a general trend towards fewer, larger farms, it’s clear that supply chain dynamics are changing. We need to identify the bottlenecks- and adapt. And, with bigger companies comes not only economies of scale, but also more potential for disruption.

(2) Farming and innovation need holistic support

Education is a common theme at forward-looking conferences in many industries, including agriculture. It’s great to hear folks talk about preparing future generations, as education is undeniably necessary.

But what was really exciting to hear at GrowAg was the subtle shift to a more holistic view of education. There’s a growing appreciation that domain, business, and increasingly tech knowledge are necessary to run a successful farming operation. Just as farmers have learned to fix their own equipment rather than call for help, so too will they need to become tech savvy as we enter the age of digital farming. Similarly, training on business acumen and financial literacy are needed.

“The farmer does not know the cost of production. How can you run a business without this information? It wouldn’t be possible in any other sector!”

This three-pronged approach to training and education also applies to startups that want to be successful in bringing agtech to market. In addition to tech, business acumen and domain expertise are critical (not to mention, they are the first things an investor will look for).

(3) Aus has unique strengths to leverage

Two main strategies, or approaches, for agriculture were discussed. The first is improving productivity and efficiency (e.g., through investment in innovation, and as discussed above, better business). The second is differentiating the Australian brand. I think that both strategies are likely necessary given Australia’s high costs of production (i.e., labor) and current (relatively poor) productivity rankings.

Other specific opportunities for Australian ag were discussed, such as:

• different industries (and their supporting RDCs) can test and share different approaches. For example, the wine industry has used marketing to differentiate products and achieve premiums. What lessons are generalizable for other industries (yes, even commodities!)?
• proximity to Asian markets- not only is Asia a market for Aus products, but also a source of capital. Speakers urged delegates to consider changing the conversation around foreign investment: “foreign investors have increasingly become stakeholders, and should get a say in how things are produced”
• patient capital, such as superannuation funds, and innovative financing mechanisms, such as through the fintech community. Rather than have “agtech” compete with “fintech” to be Australia’s startup darling, why not leverage financial innovations and apply them to agriculture? Crowd equity was suggested as having potential to help increase affordable access to land.
• increasing corporate support for agriculture innovation, such as Coles’ $50M nurture fund, the Westpac “garage” innovation lab, and the recent collaborative effort to produce the Powering Growth report

(4) Building the future will take collaboration around a common vision

The idea of a “common vision” was raised and generally accepted. It’s still not clear what this vision is, or who will define it. But, I think progress is being made. GrowAg, perhaps because of the age of the delegates or the collaborative and hands-on design of the event, created a sense of energy and enthusiasm that I haven’t felt before. The “change is hard, so no thanks” attitude was replaced by calls for collaboration, a desire to think differently, and momentum for new approaches.

Specifically, GrowAg heard a resounding call to change the perception of agriculture, and a sense that young people are uniquely able to do this. Rather than using advertising or convoluted and ambiguous marketing strategies, delegates suggested using authentic stories about the realities of agriculture. One specific idea was emphasizing “food and fibre,” which have positive connotations, rather than “agriculture,” which may carry archaic associations or raise polarizing issues.

One of the driving factors behind the desire to change the perception of agriculture is the idea that the industry is not currently attracting or retaining the best minds. This is insane, given how important agriculture is to all lives, and the growing opportunities for technology and business innovation.

“We are often our own worst enemies by talking down our sector. that doesn’t help us do what we need: attract the best and brightest minds to agriculture”

(5) There’s no silver bullet

Creating the vision of Australian agriculture that we collectively imagined at GrowAg will not be easy and will not happen overnight. It will require a shift in the mental model. Historically it has worked to invest in science, and from that research, harvest technologies that can improve productivity.

But no single technology will be able to create the future we’ve imagined. Rather, we need to invest in infrastructure and enabling conditions that will support the creation and diffusion of many possible technologies and innovations. Accelerators (like SproutX), meetups, hack-a-thons, and more are needed. Also, we need improved standards for interoperability and frameworks for data management.

RDCs are key players in laying the groundwork here. If they can change their approach from “investing in a technology” to “investing in an ecosystem”, Australia will be able to quickly develop robust innovation infrastructure.

You can see highlights from GrowAg on RIRDC’s youtube channel here.