AG 4.0.1 - DIGITAL AGRICULTURE CONFERENCE

Event Details

Time: November 24, 2017 from 8:30am to 4pm
Location: Meaford Hall Arts And Cultural Centre
Street: 12 Nelson Street East
City/Town: Meaford, ON N4L 1N6
Website or Map: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/a…
Event Type: agriculture, conference
Organized By: Grey County Economic Development
Latest Activity: Nov 6, 2017

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Event Description

Grey County is excited to continue the conversations we started in 2016 about the rural renaissance at the intersection of agriculture and technology. As with last year, we’ve assembled an inspiring line-up of innovators and thought leaders to guide our sessions and engage participants.

This year we will shine the light on global challenges and local opportunities.

We’ll celebrate successes, explore problems to be solved, and inspire creative engagement between ag and tech throughout the day. You'll learn from keynote speakers and session participants including:

Tyler Whale Executive Director, Ontario Agri-Food Technologies
Sarah Rotz Post Doctoral Fellow, University of Guelph "Feeding 9 Billion" team
Karen Hand Bio-statistician, Ontario Precision Agri-Food
Doug Knox Vice-President, Bioenterprise Corporation
Deb Campbell Agronomist, Agronomy Advantage
And many other leaders in the world of agricultural technology

OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH

Grey County and our community partners encourage youth to attend Ag 4.0.1. Youth between 16 and 25 can win one of 5 free sponsored scholarship tickets. Apply now - deadline for applications in November 17.

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Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Depopulation could destabilize food systems

It’s difficult to argue that climate change isn’t the most pressing threat to our agri-food sector. Farmers, processors, distributors, retailers and transporters have all been forced to adapt in real time to extreme weather events, shifting growing seasons and volatile conditions. From droughts to floods to wildfires, climate change has tested the resilience of every link in the food supply chain. Yet, for all the challenges the sector has faced – and will continue to face – due to climate pressures, it has managed to cope reasonably well. Investments in technology, new crop varieties, smarter logistics and infrastructure upgrades have helped absorb many of the shocks. But there is another looming threat – quieter, slower, and far more difficult to reverse – that few in the industry appear prepared for: depopulation. At its core, the food industry is built on one assumption: that there will always be more mouths to feed. Growth in population has long been a proxy for market growth.

Labour shortages create dragnet for agri-food

Canadian agriculture and agri-food consistently punch above their weight. Agriculture and agri-food contribute $111 billion per year – more than $30 million per day – to the Canadian economy, or over six per cent of our GDP. However, there are still more than 16,000 job vacancies on Canadian farms, and this labour crisis is resulting in avoidable financial strain. With that considered, you would think that smoothing out the regulatory red tape – especially on access to labour for farmers – should be highest priority for federal and provincial governments when the shortage is both critical and chronic, proven with many years of data and evidence. When COVID-19 challenged supply chains, action was taken to secure our food supply, but this level of urgency and priority for the sector appears to have come to an end. Producers and workers need new solutions Agriculture is theoretically prioritized in the immigration regulations, but it continues to be squeezed by on all sides. Agriculture

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