Panel | Farmers doing it for themselves

07 Aug 2025
Theatre

Necessity-driven innovation has been at the heart of agriculture for generations and now farmers are developing their own tech and creating their own platforms for many reasons. Yes, the disconnect between Silicon Valley and day-to-day realities on the ground is real - but does it go deeper?
Historically, farmers have always been inventors. From the chaser bin to electric wool presses, jetting races to mobile sheep feeders, so many tools and systems now considered “standard” were dreamt up and built in someone’s farm workshop because nothing off-the-shelf would do the job. This isn’t a new phenomenon - what’s changed is the accessibility of tools like sensors, coding platforms, AI and additive manufacturing, which are now within reach of those same DIY mindsets. Join this panel and meet four ag entrepreneurs who felt inspired, got sick of waiting for someone else to come up with the goods and  just gave it a burl to find solutions for problems that maybe you just had to be there to understand.

Chairperson
Christine Pitt
Dr Christine Pitt, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Farmers2Founders & Co-Founder, AgriFood Futures
Speakers
Belinda Lay
Belinda Lay, Chief Administration & Finance Executive (CAFÉ) and business partner, Coolindown Farms
Hannah Bamford
Hannah Bamford, Founder, Ag Work Solutions
James Diamond
James Diamond, Victorian Farmer; Co-founder and CEO, AirAgri