GRDC sponsors student tickets for 2023 Riverine Plains Innovation Expo

The Innovation Expo will be held at Mulwala from 24 – 25 August 2023, with the theme Putting farmers first – driving decisions using data focusing on the increasingly important role that data plays in farming businesses.

The Innovation Expo is a fantastic opportunity for farmers, researchers and advisors, as well as students and young people starting out in agriculture, to learn more about the challenges and opportunities created by changes currently occurring across global markets.

Farmers collect a lot of data and the Expo will cover the use of  data to increase productive and profit performance, as well as the importance of data capture to maintain access, particularly into premium markets. This is especially important because data capture will also likely impact farmers’ access to financial and insurance products in the future.

The Innovation Expo aims to explore the ways farmers can prepare themselves and their businesses for these inevitable market changes, either through collecting and using new types of data, or by better using the data they already have.

There are 20 GRDC sponsored tickets available for agriculture students, valued at $500 each, which provide full-event access to the event including the Innovation Conference, Gala Fundraising Dinner and Farm Tour. Sponsored tickets will be allocated on a first in, first served basis.

The Innovation Expo gets underway with the Riverine Plains Alvan Blanch Australia Innovation Conference on Thursday 24 August.

High-calibre speakers, including Alexandra Gartmann, Chair of the Victorian Agriculture and Climate Change Council and Nigel Hart, Managing Director GRDC will discuss data and the use of new technologies, including data-sharing with end-users, artificial intelligence and privacy.

Brad Egan, 2022 Young Farmer of the Year, will share his experiences of using data for agricultural innovation, profitability and sustainability.

There will also be a farmer panel discussion on how farmers are collecting and using data to make more informed decisions. Panellists includes Nick Ennis from Lawson Grains, Anna Toland from Toland Merino, Brad Egan, Broden Holland and Emma Ayliffe from Summit Ag.

A supply-chain panel discussion, featuring Rohan Jarvis from New Edge Microbials, Keryn McLean from Bayer, Mark Allen from Thera Capital Management, Dwain Duxson from Farm Tender and Chris Stevens from Kellogg’s Australia will provide further insights into how markets are driving data collection.

The Riverine Plains New Edge Microbials Gala Fundraising Dinner will be held on the evening of Thursday 24 August, with renowned comedian Jean Kittson providing the entertainment.

The Riverine Plains Alvan Blanch Australia Farm Tour will be held on Friday 25 August and takes a practical look at how farmers are employing new technologies such as drones, weed-detecting technology and grain dryers to make better and more sustainable farming decisions.

Applications for this program are closed.

Riverine Plains thanks GRDC for their generous investment in the future of the region through their support of students attending the Innovation Expo.