The biennial Summer Grain Conference, that ran from 7-9 July, has gone out with a bang, or rattle of the silo! The conference brought together producers, researcher, innovators, international and nation industry leaders passionate about the future of farming.
AgForce's Grains Policy Director Ruth Thompson, Grains President Brendan Taylor, and other AgForce Grains Board members were centre of some forward-thinking discussions at the event.
The themes were centred around 'Megatrends affecting Australian Famers' and 'Overcoming challenges of farming in 21st century'. The main discussions where thoughtful, pragmatic and innovative, such as the conversation around the 'Just in Time Model,' and potential policy setting to shift food security for Australia.
The break-out sessions saw teams of forward thinkers come together to better Industry, especially areas of agronomy, carbon, trade & markets, on-Farm automation and detecting weeds in crops using ultra-high resolution satellite imagery, some very cutting-edge explorations in agriculture.
Brendan Taylor reminisced on the presence of so many different fields all dedicated to the growth of grains production.
"It was the 6th conference, and I think the content of the conference is only getting better. It's the only conference that I've ever been involved in where you've got growers, researchers, grain traders, agronomists and all involved in the industry all in the same place. You've got the entire part of the grain growing cycle, down to the plant seed, with the growers all interacting; everyone gets involved."
AgForce sponsored the On-Farm wellbeing session, hosted by the Grain Producers Australia's Farmer Mates Mental Health Initiative; Mates4Mates, with guest speaker and ambassador, the beloved cricketer Brad Hog.
Ruth Thompson says the support from people in the industry is what makes events like this successful
"A great couple of days, and really great to see Grain Producers supporting an industry event."
