The EvokeAG 2025 conference wasn’t just a showcase of innovation, it was a critical reality check highlighting a persistent challenge within Australian agriculture: the disconnect between cutting-edge research and practical, on-farm application.
The SmartSat CRC team – Professor Andy Koronios, Andrew Beveridge and myself – attended evokeAG with this very issue in mind, seeking to bridge this gap and ensure our Earth Observation research truly benefits the AgTech industry and farmers on the ground.
Chief Operating Officer Andrew Beveridge (left) and myself on the ground at EvokeAG in Brisbane.
Startup Alley within the exhibition hall, spotlighting 40 of the most innovative agrifood tech startups and scaleups.
The conference pulsed with energy, bringing together a vibrant cross-section of the agricultural landscape. Startup Alley pulsed with the dynamism of 40 agrifood tech pioneers, and it was there, amidst the exciting innovations, that we even caught sight of a robot dog demonstrating its LiDAR potential – a fun and slightly surreal glimpse into the future of on-farm automation!
Established players like RDCs and Elders anchored the event with industry expertise. The diverse mix of farmers, technologists, government agencies, and investors created a melting pot of perspectives, all grappling with the future of food production. It was also fantastic to connect face-to-face with many of our existing partners, including CSU, Elders, GRDCs, and Data Farming. These conversations are always invaluable, reinforcing our collaborative efforts and providing crucial on-the-ground perspectives.
One of Boston Dynamic’s Robot Dogs demonstrating its arm attachment.
A stellar speaker lineup, featuring figures like Mark Allison (Elders), Stu Adam (Agronomeye), Leigh Sales, Professor Michelle Colgrave (CSIRO), and Senator the Hon Anthony Chisholm (and many others) offered a rich tapestry of insights. However, a recurring theme throughout the event, often voiced directly by producers and echoed by industry veterans, was the frustration that valuable research often fails to translate into tangible benefits at the farm level. This sentiment underscored the urgency for research programs like Maya Nula to be deeply connected to the practical realities and needs of the agricultural community.
With Maya Nula’s future in mind, EvokeAG was an invaluable listening exercise. We engaged directly with exhibitors, where innovative solutions were on display. We actively participated in sessions, seeking to understand not just the what of agtech innovation, but the how and why of its adoption – and often, non-adoption. This direct engagement proved crucial in validating the importance of our mission: to ensure that space-derived data and analytics are not just scientifically groundbreaking, but also practically relevant and readily accessible to the agricultural sector.
Here are key session highlights that amplified the critical need to bridge the research-to-farm gap and their learnings for Maya Nula’s future direction:
Tough questions: You ask, they answer
This session, designed to be driven by audience questions, surfaced many concerns about the practicality and accessibility of current agricultural advancements. Questions around sustainability and environment and innovation, while often underpinned by significant research, frequently lacked clear pathways for implementation and uptake on farms. This highlighted the need for Maya Nula to not only generate valuable research impact but also to ensure its usability and relevance to real-world farming practices. Other difficult questions around collaboration, carbon market, and climate-change were answered, eliciting some very honest and unfiltered answers.
Innovation uncut: Agritech wins, fails, and the lessons learned
The raw honesty of this session, showcasing both AgTech triumphs and failures, was particularly impactful. The “fails” often stemmed from a disconnect between the technology’s capabilities and the farmer’s actual needs or ability to integrate it into existing systems. This session reinforced the critical need for Maya Nula’s EO solutions to be user-centric, developed with farmer input, and demonstrably solving real on-farm problems, not just pushing technological boundaries in isolation.
Bridging the chasm between technology and producers (AusAgritech & Elders Session)
These sessions explicitly addressed the adoption gap, providing a platform for farmers like Grant Sims (Pine Grove) to articulate their challenges and for agtech innovators like Tim Neale (DataFarming) to present solutions. The dialogue underscored that technology alone is not enough. Effective adoption requires clear communication, practical demonstrations of value, and solutions that are tailored to the specific needs and contexts of individual farms. For Maya Nula, this means focusing on delivering EO-derived insights in formats and platforms that are easily understood and integrated into existing farm management workflows. Speakers like Daniela Carnovale (Agscent) and Brooke Sauer (Boolah Group) emphasised the necessity for solutions that are not only scientifically sound but also economically viable and practically implementable, further validating Maya Nula’s focus on delivering tangible value.
Veteran journalist and author Leigh Sales discusses the art of storytelling.
The lecture theatre at EvokeAg at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Storytellers: We become the stories we tell with Leigh Sales
Effective communication, as highlighted by Leigh Sales, is paramount in bridging the research-to-farm gap. Researchers and technology developers need to be able to clearly articulate the benefits of their innovations in a language that resonates with farmers. We recognise the importance of clear and compelling communication to ensure our research findings and EO tools are understood and valued by the agricultural community.
An autonomous future: Redefining agriculture through AI and robotics
This session provided a glimpse into the transformative potential of AI and robotics in agriculture. Exploring the synergy between humans and machines, the discussion highlighted how automation can drive efficiency, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness. For Maya Nula, this session was particularly relevant. Earth Observation data provides a crucial input for AI and robotic systems in agriculture. Satellite imagery can inform precision farming for tasks like targeted spraying or automated harvesting, optimising resource use and minimising environmental impact, increase productivity, profitability and sustainability. The vision of a more autonomous future, reliant on data-driven decision-making on top of on farm expertise, further underscores the importance of Maya Nula’s work in providing reliable and accessible space-based agricultural intelligence.
EvokeAG 2025 served as a powerful call to action for the Maya Nula program. The conference underscored that scientific excellence alone is insufficient. To truly impact Australian agriculture, research must be translated into practical, accessible, and farmer-centric solutions. Our commitment moving forward is strengthened: Maya Nula will not only deliver cutting-edge agriculture intelligence from space but will also prioritise bridging the research-to-farm gap through collaborative development, clear communication, and a relentless focus on the practical needs of the Australian agricultural industry. The insights gained at EvokeAG and previous AgTech conferences are instrumental in shaping our future program’s direction, ensuring that our space-based EO research directly contributes to a more sustainable, productive, and resilient future for Australian farmers.
Fabrice Marre
Senior Earth Observation Specialist