AgriFutures On Air

We have a new podcast! 

When big ideas and new opportunities run up against established practices of farming in Australia’s unique environment, there’s tough choices to be made. Join host Michael Thomson as he unearths the farmers, scientists and big characters changing Australian agriculture in this new series from AgriFutures Australia. 

If you followed AgriFutures On Air, make sure you search for “Unearthed: The people changing Australian agriculture” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen and hit follow to stay updated with the latest episodes. 

Australia’s national science agency CSIRO is increasing farm productivity with new ways of thinking and technology and opening doors for innovators around the world. We’ll hear from Dr Rose Roche about some programs available. We also hear from New South Wales farmer and entrepreneur Nick Seymour about his innovation The Water Rat and breaking into the Indian market. 

They also give a very candid insight into the accelerator experience and how can entrepreneurs be better supported to scale. 

AgriFutures evokeᴬᴳ⋅ is Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood innovation event, with the 2025 event bringing together almost 2,000 delegates from across the globe. 

This unique, cross-sector, international event brings together thought leaders and change makers in agriculture, food manufacturing, research, innovation, investment, and policy, to build connections for a more resilient, productive, and profitable agricultural sector and value chain. 

The Queensland Government has committed to an ambitious target to boost the State’s primary production output to 30 billion dollars by 2030. 

So how can they do it and who is going to be on the ground? Join Jayne Cuddihy in conversation with stakeholders, Grant Statton, Executive Director of AgriBusiness Connect, Kylie Porter, CEO of Greater Whitsunday Alliance and Garnet Radford, Economic Development Officer, Balonne Shire Council with big picture thinking and passionate workforces.   

AgriFutures evokeᴬᴳ⋅ is Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood innovation event, with the 2025 event bringing together almost 2,000 delegates from across the globe. 

This unique, cross-sector, international event brings together thought leaders and change makers in agriculture, food manufacturing, research, innovation, investment, and policy, to build connections for a more resilient, productive, and profitable agricultural sector and value chain. 

Australia’s agritech industry is at a critical crossroads- so how can we seize the moment and shift investment and capital structures to keep innovations and profits on home soil? 

Join Dr Nancy Schellhorn, the co-founder and CEO of Rapid AIM bio digital crop detection and Mark Gustowski, a Co-Founder at Mandalay Venture Partners with our contributor Jayne Cuddihy.

AgriFutures evokeᴬᴳ⋅ is Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood innovation event, with the 2025 event bringing together almost 2,000 delegates from across the globe. 

This unique, cross-sector, international event brings together thought leaders and change makers in agriculture, food manufacturing, research, innovation, investment, and policy, to build connections for a more resilient, productive, and profitable agricultural sector and value chain. 

Beef and seafood are not only two of Australia’s favourite foods to serve for dinner- but they are also two of Australian agriculture’s biggest employers. So what are they doing to futureproof their vacancies? 

Julie Petty is the General Manager, Policy and Projects of Seafood Industry Australia and is joined by Stephen O’Brien, the CEO of Mort & Co, in conversation with our contributor Jayne Cuddihy.

 AgriFutures evokeᴬᴳ⋅ is Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood innovation event, with the 2025 event bringing together almost 2,000 delegates from across the globe. 

This unique, cross-sector, international event brings together thought leaders and change makers in agriculture, food manufacturing, research, innovation, investment, and policy, to build connections for a more resilient, productive, and profitable agricultural sector and value chain. 

How do we put women at the forefront of decision making, investment and marketing of the agrifood innovation ecosystem? Kylie and Julia explore the underlying reasons with our contributor Jayne Cuddihy and some of reasoning will surprise you. 

This is the first episode in our evokeᴬᴳ⋅ Workforce and Skills Gap mini-series and we’re asking the tough questions of rural entrepreneur Julia Spicer OAM and venture capitalist Kylie Frazer. 

AgriFutures evokeᴬᴳ⋅ is Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood innovation event, with the 2025 event bringing together almost 2,000 delegates from across the globe. 

This unique, cross-sector, international event brings together thought leaders and change makers in agriculture, food manufacturing, research, innovation, investment, and policy, to build connections for a more resilient, productive, and profitable agricultural sector and value chain. 

Sesame is one of the oldest cultivated plants in the world, but an industry that is emerging within the Australian agriculture landscape.

The white and black sesame seeds you buy in the supermarket or those sprinkled on top of your hamburger buns and sushi rolls are almost certainly imported from developing countries in Asia and Africa. But with the global sesame market worth more than US $7 billion and demand continuing to escalate, an Australian sesame renaissance is beginning to gain momentum. 

SEEDED is a special six-episode series for AgriFutures on Air brought to you by the AgriFutures Emerging Industries team. Follow AgriFutures on Air wherever you get your podcasts to listen to all six episodes.

Tackling food waste is one of the World’s great challenges. UK based company LyteGro is taking it one banana at a time with the development of microbial growth enhancers using some of the 1.4 million tropical fruits that are thrown out every day. 

LyteGro CEO Dr Andrew Lee was at evokeᴬᴳ⋅ with his fellow countryman Adam Shay from RBT for not only the quintessential evokeᴬᴳ⋅ networking experience, but exploring market growth options in Australia as they told our contributor Jayne Cuddihy. 

This is the fifth episode of the third focus area in the evokeᴬᴳ⋅ 2025 mini series. The series is split into four key focus areas: Economics & Trade, Sustainability & Environment, Innovation & Future Technology and Workforce & Skills Gap.

AgriFutures evokeAG is Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood innovation event, with the 2025 event bringing together almost 2,000 delegates from across the globe. 

This unique, cross-sector, international event brings together thought leaders and change makers in agriculture, food manufacturing, research, innovation, investment, and policy, to build connections for a more resilient, productive, and profitable agricultural sector and value chain. 

Find out more about AgriFutures evokeᴬᴳ⋅ 

As the Smart Farm landscape evolves, innovators like BioScout and Fauna Tech are at the forefront, focused on providing sustainable alternatives to traditional farming practices. This is helping Australian farmers adopt smarter, more resilient practices, contributing to the growth and transformation of Smart Farms across the country.

In this episode our contributor Jayne Cuddihy talks to Charles Simons from BioScout and Fauna Tech’s Rajat Pandya. 

This is the fourth episode of the third focus area in the evokeᴬᴳ⋅ 2025 mini series. The series is split into four key focus areas: Economics & Trade, Sustainability & Environment, Innovation & Future Technology and Workforce & Skills Gap.

AgriFutures evokeᴬᴳ⋅ is Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood innovation event, with the 2025 event bringing together almost 2,000 delegates from across the globe. 

This unique, cross-sector, international event brings together thought leaders and change makers in agriculture, food manufacturing, research, innovation, investment, and policy, to build connections for a more resilient, productive, and profitable agricultural sector and value chain. 

Find out more about AgriFutures evokeᴬᴳ⋅ 

There’s a big difference between a portobello mushroom and an enoki- just like the robots that pick them. In this episode we hear from Chris Payne, Chief Operating Officer for 4AG Robotics, about the fascinating evolution of specialist robots and Professor Simon Pearson who led the UK government’s review of robotics and automation for the horticulture sector and works in one of the largest Ag-Tech specialist groups in the UK. 

This is the third episode of the third focus area in the evokeᴬᴳ⋅ 2025 mini series. The series is split into four key focus areas: Economics & Trade, Sustainability & Environment, Innovation & Future Technology and Workforce & Skills Gap.

AgriFutures evokeAG is Asia Pacific’s premier agrifood innovation event, with the 2025 event bringing together almost 2,000 delegates from across the globe. 

This unique, cross-sector, international event brings together thought leaders and change makers in agriculture, food manufacturing, research, innovation, investment, and policy, to build connections for a more resilient, productive, and profitable agricultural sector and value chain. 

Find out more about AgriFutures evokeᴬᴳ⋅