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Kia Ora,

During this time of the year, many of us are planning how to bring our families together for Christmas and the summer holidays. This year we also have a special opportunity to reconnect with our wider community at Fieldays 2022.  Next week, we’re ditching gumboots and beanies for sunhats and jandals! Traditionally held in the month of June, the Southern Hemisphere’s largest agricultural event was postponed due to pandemic restrictions. Now, just ahead of the festive season, we’re looking forward to the industry celebrations, connections and conversations.

FIELDAYS: Where to find us!

We’re looking forward to connecting in person and you can find us at Fieldays® Digital Futures Hub in the main pavilion. Please come along and say hello. In particular we’d love to hear how you would like the Fieldays® Digital Futures Hub to evolve next June and beyond.

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FIELDAYS: Celebrating women in agriculture

We’re excited to host a special event at Fieldays to celebrate inspirational women in our industry in partnership with New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT). Unfortunately tickets have sold out, but please email us if you would like to be involved in future initiatives like this.

Contact us 

FIELDAYS: Innovation Awards Finalists announced

A highlight for us, the Fieldays Innovation Awards deliver a global platform for creative problem solvers to showcase their innovation to the primary industries and the opportunity to be recognised. We wish all finalists the best of luck and will celebrate the winners as they are announced next week.

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FIELDAYS: Lunch & Learn – Solutions for Successful Digital Adoption

We are excited to be hosting the Lunch & Learn session Solutions for Successful Digital Adoption event on Thursday 1 December, followed by a networking lunch sponsored by the United Kingdom (UK) Department of International Trade. Unfortunately space is limited and tickets have now sold out. We’ll keep you updated on social media and please let us know if you are keen to connect with the UK mission.

Contact us

FIELDAYS: All the agritech events in one place!

Check out all the agritech events being hosted during Fieldays including an online tools seminar, airborne agritech seminar and tour, NZ-UK Free Trade Agreement Event and ecosystem networking. 

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FIELDAYS: Exhibiting? Come and say hi

Over 30 of our AgriTechNZ Members are exhibiting at Fieldays this year and if that’s you, please come and visit us at the Fieldays® Digital Futures Hub in the Main Pavilion. Kylie and I will also be out and about visiting as many of you as possible. This may include posing for a few selfies to share on social media to help promote your attendance, so please be prepared to say ‘cheese’! 

FIELDAYS: Prioritising health and wellbeing 

Due to increased demand the Hauora Taiwhenua Health and Wellbeing Hub has tripled in size for this year’s Fieldays! The one-stop shop for health checks includes blood pressure, blood sugar levels, hepatitis C, skin cancer and more.

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Ngā manaakitanga me kei runga noa atu 
Go well and onwards and upwards

Brendan
Chief Executive, on behalf of the Executive Council of AgriTech New Zealand

PS: Join our next Connect Event: Going green without getting in the red on 5 December in Christchurch to discuss agritech innovations and the transition to low emissions agriculture. We will have speakers from both the UK and New Zealand. This must attend event is sponsored by the UK Department of International Trade and co-hosted by Lincoln Agritech.  Space is limited, so please register now.

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Read more: AgriTechNZ News: Fieldays Special Edition

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Spring growth echoes industry growth 

As spring growth continues, it’s great to also see signs of growth for our industry too. New product launches, industry recognition and the ability to get out into the world are all very welcome growth dynamics. We’re looking forward to next month’s Springtime Fieldays! Many of our stakeholders will be onsite and planning shared activities for next year. We’ll also be hosting and presenting several activities and hope to see you there.

Decade of disruption and the age of agritech

My first international adventure since the pandemic has shown me that while we’ve been working on agritech growth strategies, so has the rest of the world!

Read more > 

Robotics Plus unveils it’s autonomous platform

Industry leader and AgriTechNZ member Robotics Plus were in the news recently when they launched their multi-use modular autonomous vehicle at FIRA USA 2022. We celebrate their ‘global from day one’ approach and look forward to further growth of the company and New Zealand agritech’s global impact.

Read more > 

NZ International Business Awards

Congratulations to AgriTechNZ members Agrisea and UBCO for being chosen as finalists in the International Business Awards.

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Common language in farming data

We are working with Rezare Systems and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) on a project to align the way we describe and identify data elements. This will help our ecosystem participate in a range of industry initiatives without ‘reinventing the wheel’ each time.

Read more > 

Emissions pricing submission

We are preparing a submission to the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) and the MPI on the Government’s proposal to price agricultural greenhouse gas emissions in Aotearoa New Zealand from 2025. We believe the good use of digital tools and the inclusion of agritech service providers and their partners can address many of the issues raised by stakeholders in these discussions. If you’d like to express an opinion or join the conversation, please get in touch.

Contact Us > 

Join us at Fieldays 2022

Join us for our Solutions for Successful Digital Adoption event on Thursday 1 December beside the Pavillion. Following our panel discussion, during lunch, you’ll be able to meet the international community attending Fieldays, generously sponsored by the UK Department of International Trade.

Register Now >

Can we drop in and say hi?

If you’re a Member and exhibiting at Fieldays, please let us know! We’d love to visit and promote your presence through our social channels. Please update us on where you’ll be and we’ll swing by to say hello.

Get in Touch > 

Ngā manaakitanga me kei runga noa atu 
Go well and onwards and upwards

Brendan
Chief Executive on behalf of the Executive Council of AgriTech New Zealand

PS: We love to share member news and events. If you’re doing something cool, please let us know!

Globally, we are at one of the most important, exciting and challenging times in the history of agriculture. Strengthening the foundations of a smart agritech ecosystem in New Zealand will assure the role the world needs of us. As a small market we are limited in what we can achieve on our own, but as a smart ecosystem we can have a disproportionate impact on global food systems and climate action. 

During the last month we have made excellent progress promoting and advancing the agritech sector in and from New Zealand. We’ve published our Baseline of Digital Adoption research report and participated in the development of the Digital Boost for Ag series of videos.

A smart ecosystem thrives on collaboration across interconnected interests, effectively functioning as a unit. In New Zealand, our innovators, agribusinesses, researchers, investors, regulators, farmers and growers are easily connected. Less easy, but vital if we are to realise our global impact, is to find common ground on shared problems. For example, equitable food production in a climate crisis. We need to develop our collaborative fitness and shine our light out in the world.

This starts with strengthening our core and improving our use of innovative solutions locally. It includes building our international connections and promoting our capabilities globally. This month we’re highlighting the progress and opportunities for digital agriculture in New Zealand and connecting with global agritech interests at the World Agritech Innovation Summit.

2022 Baseline of Digital Adoption in Primary Industries

This new research report helps us understand the realities of digital adoption across New Zealand. It provides powerful insights to on-farm utilisation of digital agricultural practices and the strategies to enable increased benefit from the technologies. In case you missed it, the report is available to download for free.  On 19 October, we will also host a members-only webinar to explore the meaning and implications of this research. We will also be seeking input on next steps for this work.

Register Now

Digital Boost for agriculture

Backed by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), Digital Boost is an online platform designed to digitally upskill businesses across New Zealand, for free. Recognising that agriculture is at the heart of New Zealand’s economy, AgriTechNZ collaborated in the creation of  Digital Boost for Ag, a series of videos directly related to on-farm technology solutions. The series highlights farmers and growers from Auckland to Southland to help their peers get the best advice on digital tools and what farmers should think about when making technology decisions.  Watch my intro video on the importance of agritech here.

Learn More

World Agritech connections

Next week I’m travelling to London to fly the flag and deepen connections with the world’s agritech community. With over 800 top level agri-food professionals in attendance over two days, we’ll be meeting existing partners and developing valuable new connections. We’ll keep you updated!

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Creating regional impact for a global crisis: Oceania 2025

We’re just one month away from the 2035 Oceania Summit in Auckland. If you haven’t already secured your ticket, now is the time. If you’re an AgriTechNZ member, please contact us for your discount code.

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Agrifoodtech mission to Israel

AgriTechNZ member AgSorted is leading the Israel New Zealand Strategic Partnerships Project for Early Stage Agri Food Tech businesses  mission to Israel. The project is designed to help NZ agri food tech businesses accelerate their international growth through strategic partnerships with well-matched Israeli partners. The mission is scheduled before and after  Israel’s AgriFoods Week in Tel Aviv 6-10 November, to optimise its success.

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Fieldays Innovation Awards

The final entry date for our sector’s premier innovation awards is 6 October. There is no better platform to celebrate innovation in our sector, with all the participants in our primary industries watching. If an innovation launches but no one sees it, did it really happen? Make sure your innovation is celebrated and enter the awards today.

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KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards

We’ll be joining KiwiNet to honour Aotearoa’s research commercialisation heroes and their entrepreneurial spirit on 6 October. There are still some tickets left if you would like to join.

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AgTech Breakthrough Awards

Congratulations to Hectre – Orchard Management Software who was named best Overall Post Harvest Company of the Year at the AgTech Breakthrough Awards. The award recognises the best companies, products and services in the agritech sector and it’s the second time they have won this award which is a wonderful achievement.

Read More

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Ngā manaakitanga me kei runga noa atu 
Go well and onwards and upwards

Brendan
Chief Executive
on behalf of he Executive Council of AgriTech New Zealand

Celebrating the work of others in our sector is good for all of us. It’s an act of good citizenship that recognises both our individual and shared work in building a smart ecosystem. Ecosystem citizenship behaviour encourages collaborative approaches, collective action for the sector and indirect social exchanges (such as the behaviour of paying it forward and supporting the development of others in the community). We’ve had some opportunities to recognise the good works of others in the last month and look forward to further opportunities.

Celebrating agritech at the Hi-Tech Awards
This year’s Hi-Tech awards highlighted the wonderfully disproportionate role agritech is playing for Aotearoa New Zealand. Agritech businesses were spread throughout many of the awards with entries from Halter, Marama Labs, Agrisea, M2X, Cropsy, Hectre, SmartMachine, Onside and UBCO. We celebrate the winners and know the whole sector is winning!

Read more >

Acknowledging agritech excellence
We were delighted to relaunch the Robin Davidson Memorial Award for Agritech Excellence at a recent event in Hamilton. Congratulations to Andrew Cooke from Rezare Systems for being the worthy recipient for 2022.

Read more >

Showcasing agritech innovations on a global platform
Fieldays Innovation Awards are open and deliver a global platform for agritech innovators to showcase their innovation.  Fieldays draws attention from around the globe and success at the awards has been a milestone achievement for many agritech businesses, especially over time as as they often progress through the categories. 

Read more >

Connecting early-stage agritech businesses in NZ and Israel
The Israeli Embassy in New Zealand is inviting early stage agritech businesses to consider building enduring commercial partnerships with like-minded Israeli businesses so both partners can deliver products and services to discerning world markets. AgSorted are coordinating a three month project from September to November 2022.

Read more >

Sharing ideas on data in the agrifood supply chain
The team at Rezare/Map of Ag are hosting their Pure Farming webinar series covering the importance of data in the agrifood supply chain. The series has sessions for developers, farmers and agrifood organisations.

Read more >

Creating regional impact for a global crisis
We’re looking forward to engaging with our Australian and Pacific region peers and visitors at the 2035 Oceania Summit in Auckland.  The October summit is hosting leaders of science, agritech, agrifood, agribusiness, farming and regulation. The list of attendees is growing rapidly and it is surely an event not to be missed.

Read more >

Ngā manaakitanga me kei runga noa atu 
Go well and onwards and upwards

Brendan
Chief Executive
on behalf of he Executive Council of AgriTech New Zealand

As we shoot past the halfway point of 2022 and  take time for Matariki reflections, I’m excited for the sector growth opportunities ahead. I’m especially grateful for developing relationships in person. In the next few months we will see agritech visitors coming to New Zealand and agritech innovators heading overseas.  This is the time to form and cement new relationships.

Executive Council developments

At our recent Annual General Meeting and subsequent Executive Council meeting we welcomed several new (but well known) faces and paid thanks to others. Congratulations to Bridgit Hawkins from CropX who was elected as AgriTechNZ’s new Chair. New Council members include Sarah Adams from Gallagher Animal Management, Mark Begbie from PlantTech Research and Matt Flowerday from GPS-it/Landkind. Special thanks to the significant work and ongoing support of Kenneth Irons from AgSorted, Peter Nation from the National Fieldays Society and Dan O’Brien from Amazon Web Services.

Read more  

Agritech sector vital to New Zealand’s economic growth

Earlier this month, the Technology Investment Network’s (TIN) 2022 Agritech Insights Report was launched. This year’s report continues to highlight  the growth of the sector, featuring greater levels of collaboration enabling  even higher growth rates in the coming years.

Read more   

Regional Partnerships with Australia

Earlier this month, the Technology Investment Network’s (TIN) 2022 Agritech Insights Report was launched. This year’s report continues to highlight  the growth of the sector, featuring greater levels of collaboration enabling  even higher growth rates in the coming years. 

Read more   

Join NZ Story’s next webinar on Australian perceptions

Would you like to know more about Australian perceptions of New Zealand in 2022? This research will help businesses and exporters understand how they can tailor their stories for our closest trading partner. Join NZ Story’s David Downs and One Picture’s Alex Jones on 27 July to learn more. 

Register here  

Agritech mission to the UK and Ireland in September

Callaghan Innovation, in partnership with AgriTechNZ, is leading a Market Immersion mission to the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland for UK Dairy Day and the 2022 Irish National Ploughing Championships, 11 September to 23 September 2022. The mission is for 25 people from mid-to-late stage startups, mature businesses, and researchers. Participants will gain a deep insight into the UK and Ireland’s agri industries, research, innovation systems and channel partners. The mission also offers New Zealand companies and agencies the opportunity to showcase their abilities and technologies in a global setting.

Express interest   

Regional impact for a global crisis

Join the 2035 Oceania Summit in Auckland this October.  We’re looking forward to engaging with our Australian peers and visitors at this event.  The summit is hosting leaders of science, agritech, agrifood, agribusiness, farming and regulation. . We have secured a discount code for members of AgriTechNZ which will provide a further $100 off the early bird price (valid until 8 August). To claim your code, please contact us here.

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To innovate is human!

Our sector partners at Sprout Agritech are growing their team and continuing to share key learnings from working with our sector innovators. We love the work they do emphasising the need to nurture good teams, and focus on the human needs of mental health and wellbeing. Sprout is currently recruiting for new herd members, check out the available roles here. 

Read more   

Creating a smart green future together

Join B.linc Workshop on 16 August at Lincoln University and hear from Plant & Food Research’s Gavin Ross as he shares their vision, strategy, projects and how you can be involved.

Register now  

Interested in new proposed R&D funding schemes, but missed our webinar?

Recently we hosted a webinar to learn more about the Government’s two new research and development (R&D) grants to boost business innovation.  The grants aim to help with the high costs and steep learning curves associated with R&D.  They will also provide pathways to the existing R&D Tax Incentive (RDTI).

Watch now  

Growing great agritech businesses

If, in recent months, you’ve enjoyed reading our inspiring agritech stories, I’m pleased to say we have more to share.  In our latest Powered by Place storytelling feature we talk to local innovators about their growth journeys.  We feature three Kiwi entrepreneurs who have successfully navigated very different growth strategies to thrive on the global stage.

Read More  

Ngā manaakitanga me kei runga noa atu
Go well and onwards and upwards

Brendan
Chief Executive
on behalf of he Executive Council of AgriTech New Zealand

PS: The Innovotek team has made the tough decision to cancel the DigitalAg 2022 conference which was scheduled for September in Rotorua.

 

 

Following a week of announcements on emissions reduction plans and budget allocations, the role of agritech is front and centre for New Zealand.  Funding for the Agritech Industry Transformation Plan continues with an additional $5 million investment. 

The Emissions Reduction Plan also included a $340 million commitment for the Centre of Climate Action – creating pathways for leading climate research and agritech solutions to be supported in farm adoption.  We have also been consulting with the He Waka Eke Noa partners (a primary sector leadership group making recommendations to the Government on the approach to agricultural emissions pricing) on possible methods to support the changes for reporting on farm emissions.  The common thread between these initiatives is the need and opportunity to strengthen the foundations of digital agriculture in New Zealand.  All strong strategies combine both local and global objectives – developing these digital agriculture capabilities in New Zealand equips our agritech sector with technical, cultural and social advantages to have even greater impact when their relevance and knowledge is applied globally.  We can both strengthen our primary core and create new options for weightless exports and global impact.

Next month our Executive Council will further cement our strategy with a day of focussed planning. Following this, I am looking forward to joining our dinner with the Hon Stuart Nash, Minister for Economic and Regional Development.   This is a special opportunity to engage directly with the Minister and officials to highlight the importance of agritech in supporting New Zealand’s economic growth.  We will also share insights from our latest research and showcase key initiatives promoting New Zealand agritech.  

Meanwhile, here’s my round up of everything about agritech this month!

Climate funding announcement
New Zealand’s agritech companies are helping meet the country’s climate commitments and their innovations are valued internationally which will drive agritech export growth and create future proof jobs for Kiwis.
Read more >

Auckland pre-2035 Oceania Summit coming soon!
Ahead of the Summit, join industry leaders, agritech companies, farmers and growers, regulators and policy makers to discuss agrifood tech innovation.  Join us on 31 May in Auckland.
Read more >

Digital trends transforming agriculture
The Digital Agrifood Summit 2022 takes a practical look at the digital trends and technologies transformation agriculture.  Explore the Emerging Carbon Economy on 1-2 June.
Read more >

Uptake of tech in the primary sector
Last week, during Techweek22, I joined our digital adoption project team – Tim Cutfield and Bridgit Hawkins on TechweekTV to discuss our research findings. This is now available for on-demand viewing.
View here >

Ready for the challenge to build your business?
If you’re a company, entrepreneur or scientist with an idea for a scalable business the Sprout Agritech Accelerator is for you.  Applications for the next cohort close on 4 June.
Read more >

Celebrating our agritech exporters
Entries are now open for the New Zealand International Business Awards 2022.  Agritech was well represented in Bluelab’s win last year, will it be you this year? Applications close 4 July and winners will be announced at a gala dinner on 27 October.
Read more >

Informing the future of food, agriculture and tech
Join the next Global Signals workshop with Melissa Clark-Reynolds on 9 June in Auckland.  You will receive practical tools to help you identify trends before they unfold.  Plus, learn how to link strategy and foresight.
Read more >

Attending HortConnections 2022 in Brisbane?

Callaghan Innovation and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise are delighted to invite New Zealand businesses attending Hort Connections 2022 in Brisbane to a networking morning tea. Join us to connect with other New Zealand businesses and researchers in the horticulture sector who are in Brisbane for the conference.
Learn more >

Discover AI for the environment
Also during Techweek22, the AI Forum launched their new research report, AI for the Environment in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Read more >

Nominations close next week!
Ahead of our Annual Meeting, we’re seeking nominations for our Executive Council.  Nominations close on 31 May.  We are making excellent progress for our sector and require continued energy and insights from you, our members.  Please consider putting forward the best and brightest we’ve got!
Read more >

Ngā manaakitanga me kei runga noa atu 
Go well and onwards and upwards