Kia Ora Readers
Over the past two weeks, we’ve had a fantastic start to the All of Government Agritech Strategy Roadshow. We’ve had full houses in Palmerston North and Auckland where we have seen large numbers of industry representatives provide insight. The feedback is helping identify some of the key priority areas for Government action to support and scale the sector. And I mean action! Agritech is the first cab off the rank in terms of the Government’s recently announced Industry Transformation Plan.
Over the coming weeks, Agritech New Zealand will be working closely with the All of Government Agritech Taskforce to identify the core initiatives necessary to deliver this support.
If you have not yet attended one of the scheduled workshops, there is still an opportunity to provide input directly to Taskforce representatives. There are still some seats available at our events on 26 August in Hamilton, 29 August in Lincoln and 2 September in Tauranga.
Since last month’s newsletter, Agritech New Zealand and Callaghan Innovation have co-hosted a post-USA delegation workshop for our leading agri robotic and automation researchers. We have identified some major commercial opportunities in North America with our partners, Western Growers. Leveraging these requires collaboration across our research sector and a further workshop is scheduled next month to progress these opportunities.
Yesterday, we co-hosted a workshop for the large delegation of New Zealand agritech companies heading to Ireland and the United Kingdom (UK) next month. Unlike the USA visit which was largely horticulture and crop focused, the delegation to Europe will be largely dairy tech-based. Highlights of the visit include participation in the UK Dairy Day event and the Irish Ploughing Championships in Carlow. With 300,000 people expected to attend, this is one event that we do not want to miss.
At home, Agritech New Zealand is also preparing for a major expansion of its activity. Over the past few months, we have been talking to the Precision Agriculture Association of New Zealand (PAANZ) to identify opportunities to collaborate and partner. Three members of the PAANZ board have been invited to join the Agritech New Zealand Executive Council as we progress these discussions. Adoption of agritech on New Zealand farms and orchards is a key driver to increase productivity, profitability and sustainability. Building one voice for the wider agritech sector can only help further drive it.
These activities would not be possible without the support of our members. Agritech New Zealand is a membership organisation and it’s the membership fees that make all this activity possible.
Agritech New Zealand’s Executive Council is currently developing a set of actions and priorities to further increase membership benefits. If you are not already a member and want to participate in some of the exciting events that are coming up, please visit our online Membership Application.
2019 has seen a significant ramping up of activity as agritech takes centre stage in Government thinking and strategy. Agritech New Zealand is at the forefront of this action as we provide the key interface with industry and the wider agritech sector.
I very much hope you can join us on this journey.
Ngā mihi
Peter Wren-Hilton
Executive Director
Agritech New Zealand
NEWS
Join the New Zealand IoT Alliance at the 2019 IoT Half-Day Conferenceon 3 October in Auckland. Meanwhile, check out the hi-tech shirt keeping forestry workers safe.
Farm2050’s Ideation Day is 4 September in Palo Alto, California. The 2019 Irish Ploughing Championships and UK Dairy Day are being held in September. Learn more.
Calling all innovative New Zealand agritech startups looking to raise connected capital. Enter AgSharks 2019 for a chance to pitch your ideas. Applications close 6 September.
Innovating to face the future. Agritech New Zealand’s Peter Wren-Hilton recently spoke to the NZ Herald about the future of agritech, challenges and global trends.
NZTech is seeking your feedback on improvements to the R&D Tax Incentive. Applications for theCallaghan Innovation R&D Experience Grants close 31 August. Callaghan’s RFP for incubators with deep tech commercialisation experience closes 4 October.
The 2019 AmCham-DHL Express Success and Innovation Awards is 23 August in Auckland.The Canterbury Tech Summit is 12 September.
The Asia Agri-Tech Expo & Forum is 31 October to 1 November in Taiwan.
Help AgResearch understand how digital technologies are being adopted and used within New Zealand’s primary sector by completing this survey.
Attend evokeAg, 18-19 February, 2020 in Melbourne. The World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit returns to San Francisco March 17-18, 2020.
Join Agritech New Zealand today. We are a membership funded organisation. If you are not already a member, please consider joining us.
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