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Another key organisation headquartered in Brisbane is AgTrade, a global livestock, genetics and food security group, while start-ups such as Agbot, MaxSil and Qponics are delivering innovative agriculture technology and soil nutrient solutions.
Brisbane is home to the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland( RNA), a not-for-profit member-based body founded in 1875 and headquartered at the iconic Brisbane Showgrounds, an events and lifestyle precinct 1.5km from the city centre.
The Showgrounds also house the Royal International Convention Centre( Royal ICC), which has capacity for 3,000 delegates. The surrounding leafy RNA precinct offers a range of indoor and outdoor venues, along with accommodation, shopping and dining.
Last October saw the Royal ICC and Brisbane Showgrounds host the Australian Lot Feeders Association’ s BeefEx, an event celebrating the grain-fed beef industry.
The Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre( BCEC), which is located in the heart of Brisbane’ s waterfront South Bank district, boasts 44 meeting rooms and event spaces with capacity for 8,000 pax events and is part of an 17-hectare convention centre precinct, is the host venue in May for the quadrennial World Angus Forum, which will bring together Angus cattle breeders, enthusiasts, and industry professionals from around the world.
Scott Wright CEO of Angus Australia says:“ Brisbane is a vibrant city as a base to many of Australia’ s beef businesses and is a jumping off point for the World Forum post-tour of the Queensland cattle industry.”
Agri-innovation and key ingredients for conference success Another business event which highlighted agricultural innovation was the AgriFutures evokeAG staged at the BCEC in February 2025.
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Attendance exceeded the 1,800 delegates who supported the event in 2024. Anthony Ryan, BEDA CEO, pointed out:“ Brisbane is taking a leading global role in food innovation and technology in protein production.”
AgriFutures Australia MD John Harvey notes Queensland is fast gaining a reputation as the home of innovators who are creating cuttingedge technologies to transform the agricultural landscape.“ This combined with its breadth of agricultural, forestry and fishery industries, make it the perfect place to host AgriFutures evokeAG,” he says.
“ Since launching in 2019, we’ ve learned that to create an event like AgriFutures evokeAG, you need a few key ingredients like a thriving and open local ecosystem, a community hungry for innovation and solutions, and openminded, passionate people – all of which Queensland has in spades.”
Queensland’ s agribusiness sector is not only land-based but incorporates the aquaculture and seafood industry. Seafood Industry Australia( SIA) chose Brisbane to host its biennial forum in 2022 and the Seafood Directions conference, held at the Sofitel Brisbane Central, was a sell-out event, one of the largest and most successful events ever staged by SIA.
Veronica Papacosta, CEO of SIA, says the 2022 conference provided“ an excellent forum for industry leaders and
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Above: Brisbane events are providing a big stage for a range of local start-ups
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innovators across aquaculture, wildcatch and post-harvest to join together with scientists, fisheries managers and broader stakeholders”.
Papacosta adds that Brisbane offered delegates“ an impressive destination with a range of must-see attractions, premiere accommodations, and delectable seafood dining options”.
Of course, local academia contributes to the meetings harvest, with UQ also a global leader in agriculture and food science research, and in subtropical and tropical production systems. It has been ranked by various institutions( see UQ website for full details) Number 1 agricultural research institution in Australia 2022; Number 4 global agriculture research institution 2022 and Number 13 in the world for food science and agriculture.
BEDA, which worked with government and industry to land the Seafood conference, also secured and supported BeefEx, World Angus Forum and evokeAG, and Chittick says its Business Events Team’ s local knowledge and close partnerships with hotels, venues and service providers enable them to provide holistic support for planners from early stages through to event completion.
Key start-ups The following start-ups are punching above their weight and hold huge promise for driving the agri sector forward on all fronts.
Agbot( Yeronga, Brisbane), founded by Philip Livingston was featured at evokeAG 2024 Demo Stage / Scaleup Station. Now a division of Gasbot Pty
TRI Institute
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