The 2035 Oceania Summit finally concluded yesterday after two days of highly stimulating presentations and great delegate engagement. It’s been an awesome experience to put on what we hope will become a staple event, not just in New Zealand, but around the world. Supporting farmers and growers address climate change by reducing their GHG emissions and adapting to a changing climate has never been more important.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be publishing videos of every plenary presentation and panel discussion to the Summit website. Today however, we want to focus on just one significant upcoming follow-up opportunity. We call it ‘What’s Next?”
A highlight of Day 2 of the Summit was the formal signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI) between New Zealand & California, committing both to greater collaboration around the development of ‘Smart Agriculture’ opportunities. I was delighted to join NZ Minister of Agriculture Hon Damien O’Connor and California Food and Agriculture Department Secretary, Karen Ross, at the formal signing ceremony at Auckland’s Aotea Centre.
Shortly after, I was joined by Damien & Karen on the main stage for the Summit’s final session, ‘What’s Next?’ We were joined remotely by Dennis Donohue, Director, Western Growers Innovation & Technology Center, in California.
We discussed the opportunity that the LOI offered. It’s not a channel that is exactly new to me or to Wharf42. We have been working with Dennis and the team at WG since 2016. It’s an opportunity a long time coming.
It’s appropriate then that we were able to share the news that on June 22-23, 2023, Wharf42 and the 2035 Summit team will be supporting a brand new ‘Growers Summit’ in Salinas, North California, in association with Western Growers. The Summit is supported by Secretary Ross and the CDFA. The purpose of the Summit is to focus on the use of biological inputs to land and crops. For New Zealand researchers and agritech businesses operating in this domain, the Salinas Summit will provide a unique channel to a significant commercial opportunity. We’ll be publishing extensive details via both the Wharf42 and the 2035 Summit websites in the run-up to next year’s event.
Today, I’m joining Secretary Ross and the California delegation on a day’s field trip to meet growers in South Auckland. Having spent two days talking about it, today we will finally experience it.
To all the Summit’s sponsors, speakers, moderators and of course our delegates, a huge thank you. The past two days have been a blast!