Delegates to AGIC 2025 converse at the Port of Melbourne-sponsored welcome reception at conference venue Crown Promenade Melbourne. Photo: AGIC/AR Thomas Photography

THE Australian Grain Industry Conference is set to take networking and insights to the next level by anchoring Australia’s first ever AGIC Week.

Kicking off on Monday, July 27, the week will encompass the 27th AGIC Australia event over Wednesday and Thursday hosted by Grain Trade Australia and the Australian Oilseeds Federation at Crown Promenade Melbourne.

GTA chief executive officer Pat O’Shannassy said support from Austrade’s Accessing New Markets Initiative has enabled the conference to be bookended by an information symposium on day one of AGIC Week, and field trips to Horsham and Geelong.

“AGIC Week means our international delegates can get out into the regions to see crops and research facilities at Horsham on the Tuesday, and some of our exporting capability on Friday with a visit to the Port of Geelong,” Mr O’Shannassy said.

“The expanded format provides an opportunity for Australian grain industry participants to connect directly with buyers from Asia and showcase Australia’s grain export capability, supply chain and industry expertise.”

GTA CEO Pat O’Shannassy addressing AGIC 2025. Photo: AGIC/AR Thomas Photography

AGIC Week is also incorporating industry technical and committee meetings which in prior years have been held around the AGIC Australia conference.

This year, the conference theme is Thriving Today, Resilient Tomorrow, which Mr O’Shannassy said will be looking into what can be learned from the two supply chain shocks of recent years.

“They came in 2020 from COVID, and this year they’ve come from conflict in the Middle East which has given us price and supply uncertainty around fuel and fertiliser.

“The crop in the ground now is the most expensive one Australia has ever grown, and looking at what can be done to mitigate some of that risk is something we’ll be looking at in the AGIC program this year.”

As always, a variety of markets and their drivers will be brought into focus in the conference program, which will include the following presentations:

World grain and oilseed market outlooks: Zaner Ag Hedge USA chief market analyst Karen Braun;

Domestic markets: Lachstock Consulting CEO Nick Carracher;

Black Sea grain: Argus Media Singapore associate editor agriculture Anna Harouni;

Crude oil: BP Australia and New Zealand regional trading and shipping head Nick Shaw;

Feedstocks for low carbon liquid fuels: AOF executive manager Courtney Draper;

Fertiliser: S & P Global senior principal analyst Isaac Zhao;

Food security: Agsecure principal Andrew Henderson;

India: ITC Ltd vice president and head of procurement and supply chain management Khalid Khan;

South-east Asian feedgrain markets: AOF chair Rosemary Richards; and,

Vietnam: Golden Wheat Joint Stock Company general director Gia Tue Vuong;

Federal Minister for Agriculture Julie Collins is scheduled to give the conference’s opening address, and Shadow Assistant Minister for Agriculture Sam Birrell is also on the program.

Further political insights will come from former Federal Attorney-General and High Commissioner to the UK, ANU National Security College Professor George Brandis.

AGIC Australia’s popular CEOs in Conversation panel will feature CBH Group’s Ben Macnamara, Ridley’s Quinton Hildebrand, and National Farmers’ Federation CEO Michael Guerin.

Since its inception, AGIC Australia has provided the framework for a range of social events, and across the week, opportunities to build relationships across the domestic market and beyond include:

Tuesday 28 July: GTA Five Under 30 Young Professionals Event sponsored by Graingrowers, and GTA’s Advisory and Compliance Symposium;

Wednesday 29 July : HFW Women in Grains Networking Breakfast, and welcome reception sponsored by Port of Melbourne;

Thursday 30 July: AGIC Mentor/Mentee Breakfast Exchange; Austrade International Business Matching Breakfast, and gala dinner sponsored by CBH Group and featuring Kitty Flanagan.

To register or find out more about AGIC 2025 and book while early-bird rates are on offer until June 30, click here.

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