Program

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Official Address of the 2025 Digital Agrifood Summit

Session one includes Keynote and Panel

Simon Boas Hoffmeyer is an internationally recognised leader in sustainability strategy, reporting, and innovation across global food and beverage value chains. He is the architect behind Together Towards Zero and Beyond - Carlsberg’s next-generation strategy connecting regenerative agriculture, resource efficiency, and circular packaging to growth, competitiveness, and climate resilience. His work demonstrates how global brands can embed sustainability at the core of commercial decision-making, aligning shareholder value with social and environmental impact. In his keynote address, Simon will explore how consumer-facing companies are redefining value in the global agrifood chain - moving beyond traditional corporate responsibility to embed climate-smart practice across sourcing, production, and distribution. He will highlight how Carlsberg is working hand-in-hand with farmers, suppliers, and research partners to pioneer regenerative barley production, promote water stewardship, and reduce resource intensity while maintaining profitability and product quality.Challenging conventional thinking, Simon will discuss the shift from offsetting to insetting - building solutions directly into supply chains - and from “net zero” rhetoric to net credible action. His address will provoke fresh ideas on how Australian agribusinesses can leverage collaboration, transparency, and technology to position sustainability as a driver of growth and resilience.Simon’s message is clear: climate-smart agriculture is not a cost - it’s a catalyst for innovation, competitiveness, and long-term value creation across the agrifood system.

This panel will bring together leading producers, agribusiness executives, financiers, researchers, and policy specialists to explore how climate-smart agriculture can be scaled with both commercial strength and credibility. The discussion will move beyond aspiration to practical implementation - showcasing how investment, innovation, and partnership can enable producers to adopt new practices profitably and confidently.Panellists will discuss how data, finance, and market incentives can accelerate adoption of climate-smart practices; how supply-chain collaboration can reward measurable sustainability outcomes; and how research translation and advisory networks can support producers to manage risk and capture value. The conversation will also examine how enhanced resilience through climate smart practices links to enhancing national food security delivering benefits across the whole agrifood system - from paddock to policy.Together, participants will explore the enabling conditions - policy certainty, trusted metrics, technology access, and capital flows - needed to translate ambition into on-the-ground impact, demonstrating that climate-smart agriculture is not a niche concept but the foundation of Australia’s competitive advantage in a changing global market.

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For over a century, Denmark has relied on a tripartite model of negotiation to balance economic growth with social equity - bringing together government, industry and the community to reach consensus on national priorities such as wages, working conditions, and education. In 2024, this model was extended to the Danish decarbonisation targets. Niels Peter Nørring represented Danish farmers in negotiating the landmark Green Tripartite Agreement - a binding collaboration between government, industry including agriculture, and environmental organisations shaping Denmark’s climate transition. Representing the Danish Agriculture & Food Council (DAFC), he sat directly across the table from government to advocate for farm viability and competitiveness, securing phased implementation, tax deductions, and reinvestment mechanisms that would allow producers to remain profitable while contributing to national climate goals. This resulted in a more favourable outcome for the agriculture sector compared to other industries. In his keynote address, Niels will share lessons from the farmer’s side of the table - offering valuable insight into how producers can shape outcomes rather than have them imposed: How farmers can help co-design policy, ensuring practicality and fairness. The safeguards DAFC negotiated to maintain viability, including phased introduction, reinvestment mechanisms, and transition finance. How local, voluntary land-use planning with compensation can build trust and enable change. How Denmark’s co-design institutions and measurement standards underpin innovation and producer-led solutions. Niels’ insights extend far beyond any single policy instrument. They demonstrate how collaboration - rather than confrontation - can deliver credible, climate-smart progress while safeguarding the future of farmers and the agrifood sector alike.

Building on Niels Peter Nørring’s keynote, this panel will look beyond international case studies to explore what Australia should be doing next to ensure its agrifood system remains competitive, credible, and climate-smart. The Danish experience demonstrates the power of structured collaboration and strong farmer representation in shaping practical, balanced outcomes  - yet Australia’s agrifood landscape, scale, and governance structures are fundamentally different.Panelists will examine how international lessons can be adapted to Australian realities, recognising that our federation, market dynamics, and regional diversity require policy and institutional settings tailored to local conditions. The discussion will focus on how to translate principles of partnership and co-design into approaches that work for Australia  - aligning government, producers, RDCs, finance, and agribusiness around shared outcomes that enhance resilience, drive innovation, and sustain market access.Key topics include transition finance, voluntary incentive mechanisms, and trusted measurement frameworks that demonstrate performance without imposing unnecessary regulatory burden.This conversation directly supports DAS25’s theme  - “Securing Australia’s AgriFood Future”  - and its pillars of scaling climate-smart practice, strengthening sovereign capability, and systems leadership. By hearing how others have balanced ambition with viability, delegates will gain practical insights into what Australia’s next moves should be  - grounded in local context, yet globally connected.

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Australia’s agrifood future depends on more than climate-smart practices - it requires digital foundations that connect farms, supply chains, markets, and policymakers with trusted data and decision-ready insights. Reliable connectivity and data infrastructure are now as critical to resilience as transport, energy, and water systems. This panel will explore how technologies such as AI, sensors, and digital twins can strengthen sovereign capability, productivity, and global competitiveness. With insights from agritech founders, investors, and digital strategists, the discussion will focus on how to: Build connected digital infrastructure across regional and farm systems, closing connectivity gaps and ensuring inclusion for producers of all scales. Enable digital twins of the critical food systems underpinning food security priorities in Australia Unlock value from data through interoperability, trusted governance frameworks, and equitable data exchange. Scale agritech innovation through targeted investment, venture funding, and pathways to commercialisation that attract both domestic and global capital. Connect producers and advisors to practical, tech-enabled tools that enhance decision-making, productivity, and risk management. Ensure national coordination across agencies, RDCs, and industry to avoid duplication and fragmentation. By embedding digital systems as critical national infrastructure, Australia can position itself as a leader in data-driven food systems, turning information into insight and innovation into impact.

Lise Walbom is the CEO of Food Nation Denmark, a leading public–private partnership that demonstrates how effective systems leadership can align an entire nation’s agrifood ecosystem around shared goals. Food Nation unites government, industry, and research institutions under a single strategic framework that promotes innovation, transparency, and competitiveness across Denmark’s food value chain. Under Lise’s leadership, Food Nation has become much more than a branding platform - it is an institutional mechanism that translates strategy into coordinated national action. By fostering deep collaboration across ministries, producer groups, and businesses, Food Nation has created a common narrative for Denmark’s agrifood sector: one that links productivity, export success, and sustainability to a coherent story of national capability and trust. This systems-based approach has helped Denmark accelerate innovation, attract investment, and maintain international influence in a rapidly changing global marketplace. In her keynote, Lise will explore what genuine systems leadership looks like in practice - how to move beyond fragmented efforts and build enduring coordination between government, research, and industry. She will share: How Denmark has institutionalised collaboration through stable governance structures and shared accountability. How consistent messaging of the Danish agrifood story strengthens both domestic confidence and international reputation. The role of national platforms, alliances, and cross-sector partnerships in turning policy ambition into measurable outcomes. Lise’s perspective will challenge delegates to consider how systems leadership can transform fragmented efforts into a unified national strategy, positioning agrifood systems as both climate-smart and globally influential.

Building on Lise Walbom’s address, this panel will explore how systems thinking can strengthen Australia’s innovation ecosystem and position agriculture as a central driver of national transformation. Panellists will unpack what it means to think and act beyond sectoral boundaries - recognising that many of the challenges facing the agrifood system, from water security to workforce capability, cannot be solved in isolation. The discussion will examine how to embed cross-sector collaboration - linking agriculture with energy, health, technology, mining, and defence - to unlock shared value, accelerate innovation, and strengthen sovereign capability. By drawing these industries together, agriculture can help shape solutions that serve both rural communities and national priorities, creating spillover benefits across supply chains and regions. Topics include: • Aligning investment, innovation, and policy with producer-led outcomes and measurable national benefit. • Strengthening national coordination and collaboration to overcome fragmentation and duplication. • Building a unified agrifood narrative that enhances trust, brand reputation, and global market access. • Turning local innovation and research breakthroughs into collective national advantage. • Activating new cross-sector partnerships that deliver shared economic, environmental, and social returns. This session will offer practical pathways for embedding systems leadership and integrated thinking into Australia’s food and agriculture agenda - advancing resilience, productivity, and global competitiveness in a climate-smart, innovation-driven world.

From Insight to Action — Australia’s Climate-Smart Agrifood Future

RDC's will share their strategic ambitions for Australia’s agrifood future. As the sector faces complex challenges—from climate resilience to global competitiveness—this session explores how systems thinking and digital innovation can unlock new value across commodities. From shared data ecosystems to cross-sector partnerships, the RDCs will reflect on what it takes to lead beyond silos and build a digitally empowered, future-fit agrifood system.