Those themes were front and centre at the recent Agritech Unleashed Waikato event, which saw farmers, business leaders and investors come together to explore new approaches for one of our most important sectors
Deep roots drive innovation
Agriculture has long been central to Aotearoa New Zealand’s economic and cultural history. The Waikato has played a leading role in the evolution of agritech with homegrown businesses like Gallagher, LIC, AgriSea, Waikato Milking Systems and others driving world-leading innovation from the region.
That history of forward-thinking and the intersection of agriculture and innovation were on show at Mystery Creek Events Centre – home of Fieldays – where a sold-out crowd gathered to tackle tech uptake as part of creating a sustainable, profitable and productive path forward.
Event organisers AgriTechNZ used panel discussions and open conversations to blend the shared experiences and operational needs of farmers with technological advancements that are being developed and trialled across the country
Panelists included Andrew Kempson from Fonterra, Christy Mead from Agnition and Hillary Sharp from ESP Medical.
Connecting local experts with on-farm challenges
To boost sector engagement, the Tech in the Tron project hosted two Hamilton business leaders at the event. ES Plastics’ business development manager, Shaun Coombe and One Two Seven’s business development director, Glenn Fittall are both actively working with agritech clients and were keen to dive deeper into the sector.
Shaun shared that as an engineer, he was impressed by the technical expertise that came through in every discussion.
Growing his network within the sector was particularly important given ESP Medical, a subsidiary of ES Plastics, works with biotech companies to produce solutions for reducing methane emissions from livestock.
For Glenn, familiar and important concerns related to data access and control rights stood out. He believes that insights and intelligence about stock and land require strong data protections, including role-based access control, authentication and compliance.
“If done with the right input and buy-in from farmers, information sharing within the agriculture sector could significantly enhance on-farm performance and outcomes,” he says.
The importance of trusted voices
Industry experts were quick to point out that long before multispectral drones, virtual fencing or comprehensive soil reporting, farmers operated as expert analysts who meticulously tracked the relationship between the natural environment, crop yields and animal health.
Vanessa Winning from the Ministry of Primary Industries shared that the most valuable resource for farmers remains evidence-based advice from trusted partners, with the classic “over the fence” approach applying to decisions about emerging technology and tools to increase productivity.
Dairy farmer Sam Waugh also spoke about the role of social media on the farm, describing it as a simple way to take in a range of opinions about the latest innovations and understand what might work best for them.
Auriga Martin, CEO from Farm Focus, a financial management platform.
Collaboration is our advantage
A clear theme that emerged throughout the day was the role relationships will play in the implementation of on-farm innovations and the overall growth of the agritech sector in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Hamilton City Council’s economic development manager, Mike Bennett, believes this bodes well for the Waikato, where a culture of collaboration has been a long-standing core value and differentiator when it comes to attracting business investment and tech talent.
“Combined with Hamilton Kirikiriroa’s position as a growing, dynamic and accessible city, the region is an ideal base for meaningful work that can have a global impact,” he says.
Words by Martin Brock. Images from AgriTechNZ
