Wharf42 experienced an awesome evokeAG 2025!
We were joined in Brisbane, Australia, by Dennis Donohue, Director, Western Growers Center for Innovation & Technology & Dr. Jeana Cadby, Western Growers Director, Environment & Science.
On Monday 17th, we all took part in the Brisbane Biological Symposium, co-hosted with CSIRO & supported by AgriFutures Australia. The Symposium gave us the opportunity to soft-launch Platform10 in Australia. Dr Adrian Percy, Executive Director of the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative (N.C. PSI) and Platform10 Advisory Board member gave the keynote speech. A number of leading Australian and New Zealand speakers provided valuable insights into the opportunities facing the trans-Tasman region. I was delighted that three key New Zealand organisations spoke at the event; Plant & Food Research, AgResearch & ‘A Lighter Touch‘.
The collaborative trans-Tasman theme continued well after the Symposium. On Wednesday 19th, I had the opportunity to moderate the Platform10 Biologicals panel at an evokeAG 2025 conference breakout session. I was joined by Adrian, Jeana & Louise Thatcher from CSIRO. We continued to discuss how this global initiative could support farmers & growers everywhere transition from hard chemical pesticides to lighter chemistry and biologicals. The conversations went well beyond the rooms of the conference. On Thursday & Friday last week, following evokeAG 2025, I engaged in several wash-up meetings with key Australian stakeholders looking to engage with Platform10.
Those conversations continue today. Over the coming weeks, I expect to be able to share details of a trans-Tasman framework designed to bring key New Zealand & Australian stakeholders together to take a leading role in the build of Platform10’s global outreach. It’s an opportunity for our region to step up and play a significant role in helping farmers and growers everywhere adapt to the world’s changing regulatory and consumer environment.
evokeAG 2025 was a great place to start this trans-Tasman discussion. Please check out this website for ongoing updates as these conversations develop.