Following on from the success of two sell-out events in 2019 and 2020, evokeAG. organiser AgriFutures Australia, today announced Adelaide as the host city for the internationally acclaimed agrifood tech event slated for 21-22 February 2023 in South Australia.

From the AgriFutures Media Release:

Off the back of the cancellation, announced yesterday, of evokeAG. 2021 and 2022 events (Perth and Sydney), AgriFutures Australia Managing Director, John Harvey, believes next year’s event will play an even more crucial role in powering globally relevant conversations within the agrifood tech ecosystem.

“The disruptive impact of the pandemic has highlighted serious shortfalls in our food security systems. There is an increasing sense of urgency around how we engage in global conversations, mitigate risk to our supply chain and challenge the conventions of what we grow, how we grow it and what we eat. Balance this with an extremely productive Australian agricultural landscape including big yields, and all-time high prices, the evokeAG. 2023 event brings together a collision of opportunities and challenges with the best local and global minds to solve some of these issues,” said Mr Harvey.

The View from Tauranga:

Whilst I was deeply disappointed by the cancellation of the planned 2022 evokeAG conferences in Perth & Sydney, I am delighted by today’s announcement around the appointment of Adelaide as host city in 2023.

I have a particular interest. Back in October, I was the keynote speaker at South Australia’s AdvanceAG conference. I had hoped to attend in person, but unfortunately because of closed borders could only present virtually. It was a strange experience speaking to 500 delegates for ½ hour from my home office in Tauranga. Next February, I’ll have no such excuse and both Jacqui and I are already looking forward to meeting and engaging with so many of the folk connected with post-AdvanceAG.

For some additional context: Back in October 2020, the Government of South Australia released the ‘South Australia AgTech Strategic Plan’. It was a significant piece of work and a number of its recommendations resonated. I recognised that it had brought together different stakeholders including producers, government, research, industry and startups. It was as close as I have seen to the original intent of New Zealand’s own Agritech Industry Transformation Plan. It has seen the State’s agritech ecosystem emerge as one of the most connected across all of Australia. The selection of Adelaide as next year’s evokeAG host city is well deserved.

For more details about the 2023 programme and speakers, check out the evokeAG conference website at www.evokeag.com