Sally White, Fairfax Media journalist, asked “What will be
the next Air B ‘n’ B? What small idea will be the next big business… for ag?” Sean
Murphy, ABC Landline reporter, filled us in on what made a typical,
conscientious shopper using his wife as an example. And Alistair Davidson of
ABARES gave us some important statistics to think about. This was the beginning
of GrowAg. Two and a half days of listening, learning, networking and being
asked to think “What’s next in ag?”
Then John Harvey of RIRDC gave us one very important point
to think about over the course of GrowAg: Be the beneficiary of technology, not
the victim. Be the Uber inventor, not the taxi driver. This set the groundwork
in our thoughts for everything we looked at from then on. What was being shown
to us that we could adopt or get ideas and be inspired from?
On Day One we were shown what criteria makes innovations
successful, how industries, such as that of the pork industry, builds trust
with consumers by utilising an integrity program, the importance of networking
and maintaining those networks and the importance partnering up with people
whose skills set you can benefit from.
Xavier Rizos from Westpac Garage (the think tank of Westpac
Bank) on Day Two made sure we keep in mind some important facts (envisage possibilities
not probabilities, objects are closer than they appear, that innovation is
desirable, feasible and viable) and that we constantly look to the future (it
will soon take 1.6 earths to sustain humanity and at present Australia can only
feed 2% of Asia’s population).
One of Day Two’s speakers did a masterful job of ruffling
feathers. Here we were, getting all the warm fuzzies from what our potential
could be, and here he was, popping balloons. He slammed peoples “obsession”
with owning land. “Lease, share-farm, manage someone else’s place”. He slammed
farming advocacy groups. “Work smarter, stop asking for handouts from the
government, the farms will be owned tomorrow by the farmers who got it right
today”. This last point was reiterated later in a break-out session: If one can’t
grow a crop without agtech, then there’s no point in trying to grow a crop with
agtech.
Agtech was a huge theme in the summit. But like Sam Trethewy
asks “Is it nice to have or do you need to have it? Are they tools or toys?” A
farmer from WA showed us what implementing agtech looks like on his farm. He
banded together with someone whose skills set he benefited from and together
they wrote an app that can manage so many aspects of the farm. Everything from
water to tractors, rain to pastures. He can manage it all from his tablet.
Various break-out sessions throughout the three days for me
drove home the need to rethink how I was running my small (yet important to me)
business. Ideas that I had before I went to GrowAg are now things that I’m
going to make happen. I will be a beneficiary of change, not a victim.
Important take home messages were endless, here are just a
few:
·
Stay on the front foot, stay ahead of the game.
·
Shake up the Research and Development
Corporations, make their research relevant (and yes, I work in research and
irrelevant projects drive me nuts)
·
Seek out best practice
·
Collaborate with networks
·
Be open minded, not close looped
·
Be transparent
·
Have data to back up products
·
Connect with consumers, check in with
stakeholders, build trust
·
Get certification for your business. This doesn’t
just increase consumer confidence but it can add a premium to a product
·
Maintain integrity and consistency with a
product
·
Embrace agtech but ensure that it is relevant, a
tool not a means
·
NURTURE those interested in agriculture because
ag is considered a niche (you’re either born into it or attracted to it)
·
Maximise on our unique “terroir” (sense of
place)
·
Push for data and research to be made public and
accessible
