Centre for Agribusiness Monthly Update

UNE took a lead this month as a sponsor of the RiRDC GrowAg event. This gathering of the best and brightest of agriculture’s next generation saw a big focus on new sources and uses of data. Myself, Professor David Lamb, Dr Amanda Doughty and Western Australia farmer Mr Brad Wooldridge presented on "Growing Ideas for a Global Marketplace", leading a conference session drawing out key visions "Looking back to the future" of Australian agribusiness. I'm pleased to share a full write-up with you as part of the September 2016 Director's Update.

The Centre had a number of high profile visitors this month, including a visit from the University of Bonn's FoodNetCentre as part of the “Chain Failure and Chain Goods in Sustainable Food Chains” research project. UNE and friends of the Centre were lucky to hear from both Dr Johannes Simons and Professor Gerhard Schiefer on sustainability and the food industry.

The Centre also boasted a visit from international food retail consultant David “Dr Food” Hughes this month, speaking on “Future Food, Real Retail, Going Global and Profit Prizes". I urge you to take up our invitations for these seminars as an opportunity to hear about current and cutting edge research - find out about our seminar schedule via UNE Business School 2016 Seminar Series page.

We have been adding to the project pipeline, and in the next month will be working on questionnaires for the study of farm-to-fork businesses and agribusiness tertiary education needs. You can keep up with all project news via the Centre for Agribusiness blog - we're excited to share upcoming feature articles on our PhD projects with you over the month of October.

Also this month, we confirmed that Centre for Agribusiness will take part in an Australia-Argentina higher education/industry collaborative action network.

We continue to make progress with the SMART Region Incubator, with Matthew Wysel joining the team this month to develop the incubator’s data platform.

October 2016 brings us fully into Spring, and I wish you all the best for business in the bush.

Derek Baker
Director
UNE Centre for Agribusiness

UNE's SMART Regional Incubator
We're pleased to share that initial consultation for the refurbishment of the SMART Regional Incubator space is well & truly underway. The space has been designed to encourage a flow of creativity and powerful ideas from our startups & entrepreneurs, and will boast individual office spaces as well as an open meeting space to swap ideas, brainstorm and troubleshoot.
We can't wait to share photos of our progress via our Instagram account - follow us for updates!

Short Courses with UNE
Professor Derek Baker and Professor Garry Griffith have been in Adelaide this month teaching supply chain management, as a precursor to UNE’s 2017 5-week short course program.
Coming in early 2017 - Locating Opportunities through Value Chain Analysis.
Read more about Short Courses in 2016

September Events with the Centre for Agribusiness

Sept 7, 2016: Dr Johannes Simons, University of Bonn - “Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility in Fruit and Vegetable Chains in Germany”

Sept 9, 2016: Professor Gerhard Schiefer, University of Bonn - “Food Security and Sustainability - A challenge for food sector and food cooperation”

Sept 12, 2016: David “Dr Food” Hughes - “Future Food, Real Retail, Going Global and Profit Prizes”

All friends of the Centre for Agribusiness are welcome to attend these events, which are advertised on the Centre’s site. These seminars are also recorded where possible – you can access these talks via the UNE Business School 2016 Seminar Series page.

Dr Jo Newton (PhD), Lizzie Star (BAg/BBus) and Kirsty McCormack (BRurScience) take a chance to catch up during GrowAg2016 in Albury, NSW. Fantastic to boast such dedicated & passionate UNE alumni at this event!

Kirsty McCormack from OBE Organic (above, right) shared some reflections on her GrowAg2016 experience: "The three days showcased not only the current possibilities but reached further in time to explore what could be on the brink of the next disruptor to Australian and international agriculture". Read more ...

Mick Keogh of Australian Farm Institute speaks on the sort of leadership will be needed in agribusiness at GrowAg2016.

Team UNE, complete with some star graduates, just before taking the stage for a session on 'Looking Back to the Future" at GrowAg 2016.

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