This week I attended evokeAG. 2025 in Brisbane and it was inspiring to see all the different types of technology being developed for, and by, the agriculture sector. As a way to reflect (and to practice what we preach in evaluation!) I thought I would share my three key takeaways from the two days.
The first takeaway is that almost everyone is interested in AI and what it can do in agriculture. I think the same can be said for evaluation. It’s going to be really important to continue to evolve how AI is used to increase effectiveness and efficiency in data analysis and insights. I’m also keen to see how contextual data can be brought in – for example bringing policy and or industry trends into the mix.
The second takeaway is that while many people were talking about the economic and production impacts of their products or innovation, there was very little to no focus on how these were being measured or their broader impacts on farming systems. I think it would be valuable to understand what success means for different innovations and approaches and how the data is being or will be collected. An opportunity for evaluation specialists to be more overtly involved in the Ag innovation space perhaps? In Tuesday’s opening plenary, one person in the audience commented:
“Sustainability rests on three pillars: social, economic and environmental.
Yet discussions often focus on one. Makes for a fragile structure.”
The third takeaway I already knew, but it was good to hear it being talked about in this forum. The wonderful Leigh Sales (from 7.30 and Australian Story) talked about storytelling and how powerful it is to be authentic and real when telling stories, because it builds trust in what you’re sharing. It also helps to make your story stand out from much of the misinformation floating around. Storytelling was also talked about in relation to farming women and how there is more opportunity for their stories to be shared to break the broader narrative of the farmer’s wife. This conversation resonated closely with my PhD research about how some farming women are purposefully using social media to be authentic and genuine about their climate experiences to educate others about agriculture.
As someone who works in the agricultural industry across a range of different projects and programs it was encouraging to see so many people in one place who are optimistic about and innovating for the future. It was also great to see the Drought Hubs there sharing about their impacts in the innovation space. I’m looking forward to attending again sometime in the future.