Dutch King to open Sydney farm trends summit

His Majesty King Willem-Alexander will deliver the opening address at the November 3 event at Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour, which focuses on the food and farm sector’s big trends.

The Royal visit to Australia coincides with the 400th year anniversary of Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog’s arrival on the West Australian coastline – the first European acknowledged to set foot on the continent.

The visit will also recognise a longstanding bilateral relationship between The Netherlands and Australia.

Strong ties exist between the two countries, particularly in the farm sector as many Dutch farmers migrated to Australia, especially after the Second World War, attracted by agricultural opportunities.

The Farm to Fork (F2F) event, organised by Dutch-owned co-operative agri-banking giant, Rabobank, will highlight innovation insights from leading farmers, scientists, trend watchers and agricultural tech companies.

F2F is drawing farmers and agribusiness participants across Australia and New Zealand to help them expand knowledge and contacts and to learn how other farmers worldwide are changing and adapting to deliver sustainable food production.

Among the key attractions on the invitation-only forum program is scientific flagship CSIRO sharing “the next big thing” from the science world for Australian agriculture.

Singularity University speaker Kaila Colbin will introduce the fascinating world of exponential technology, explaining its relevance to the food and agriculture world.

Speakers from farm machinery manufacturing giants John Deere and Agco will explain what the new frontier of innovation will bring to their industry and farmers from overseas will share personal and inspiring success stories.

The F2F summit follows the inaugural F20 (Food) Summit convened by Rabobank two years ago to examine the challenges of global food security in the lead-up to the G20 in Australia.

The November summit is part of the Rabobank’s commitment to taking a leadership role in helping facilitate a sustainable future for global food and agribusiness production and supply.

“It is extremely important that the world – and in particular those of us involved in food and agriculture – continue working to meet the critical challenge of achieving sustainable food production to feed an ever-increasing global population,” said Rabobank Group executive board member, Berry Marttin.

“Innovation is one of the most powerful enablers that will help achieve this goal, and this will be the focus of the Farm2Fork Summit. 

“The summit will immerse participants in tomorrow’s food and agri environment, sharing ground-breaking visions and innovations and examining disruptive technologies that will re-shape supply chains, solve waste problems, improve business profitability and make industries more future proof.”