The Year Ahead: How Agtech Can Thrive Amidst Global Uncertainty
From escalating conflicts and growing biosecurity risks to a minor uptick of agtech venture capital funding in APAC, the world faced challenges – and opportunities. For the agriculture and agtech sectors, these events underscored the importance of building resilient systems to navigate an increasingly uncertain future.
As we move further into 2025, this article explores how global and local developments are influencing Australian agriculture, and highlights how innovation and support for Australian AgTech is key to helping build resilience towards mounting structural, social, climate and environmental pressures
Climatic Pressure and Increasing Intensity
2024 was Australia’s hottest spring on record.
Temperatures were 2.5°C above pre-industrial levels nationwide, with regions like south-west Queensland surpassing long-term averages by over 3°C.
During February 2025, sea surface temperatures in Australia were the warmest on record, contributing to the volume of rainfall experienced from ex-cyclone Alfred. Along the East Coast, producers are now counting the cost after the recent disruption, with beef processors forced to pause lucrative exports and fruit and vegetable farmers facing a potential wipeout of crops.
This intensification of climate variability is not unique to Australia. In 2024, Europe experienced extreme weather, with heavy rainfall and flooding in parts of Europe, including Valencia, Spain, devastating orange crops and persimmon orchards – resulting in losses exceeding €1.089 billion. Meanwhile, between August 2023 and July 2024, 52 prolonged meteorological drought events were recorded globally, reinforcing the reality that climate extremes are becoming more frequent and severe.
These figures are more than just statistics; they represent shifting weather patterns that demand a fundamental rethinking of agricultural practices. For Australia, these climatic shifts threaten long-term food security and global competitiveness.
Industry leaders warn that without strategic intervention, the agricultural sector risks falling behind, with the Australian Food and Agriculture Industry Taskforce calling for urgent bipartisan action and significant investment in decarbonisation initiatives. To remain resilient, Australian agriculture must prioritise innovation, with scalable agtech solutions playing a critical role in adapting to an increasingly unpredictable climate.
5 Key Forces Reshaping Australian Agriculture in 2025
1. International Trade Dynamics:
The re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump has reignited concerns about the potential for tariffs on Australian agricultural exports to the U.S in addition to the tariffs on aluminium and steel. While Australian beef exports to the U.S. increased by 60% last year, the threat of a 10% import duty looms large. This underscores the importance of having diversified export markets and adopting agtech solutions that ensure ongoing efficiency, cost-competitiveness and long-term sustainability.
2. Biosecurity Threats:
Australia remains the only continent free of the highly contagious H5N1 bird flu variant (although H7N8 is currently impacting the Victorian poultry industry ). While our geographical isolation gives us a natural advantage in biosecurity, wild bird migratory patterns mean our luck may not continue indefinitely. If an H5N1 outbreak were to reach Australian shores, it could significantly impact Australia's birdlife and poultry industry, leading to severe environmental and economic repercussions as well as major supply chain disruptions.
The biosecurity risk is further evidenced by the devastating Varroa mite outbreak currently impacting Australian beekeepers. These examples highlight the need for a high degree of vigilance in monitoring biosecurity risks, having advanced biosecurity plans ready for rapid implementation, and ensuring a range of policy and technology options are approved and ready at our disposal to defend against potential outbreaks before they can become established on the continent.
3. Labour Shortages in Australian Regional Areas
Labour shortages remain a major challenge for Australian agriculture, with regional workforce gaps threatening productivity and profitability. Structural barriers—such as reliance on seasonal labour, shifting migration patterns, an aging workforce, and changing workforce expectations—continue to strain farms, agribusinesses, and supply chains. The 2024 National Farmers' Priority Survey revealed that over 80% of primary producers were either very concerned or concerned about worker shortages.
The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) believes the value of the agricultural sector can exceed $100 billion by 2030, but notes that workforce challenges are a significant obstacle to achieving this goal. Persistent shortages could cost the sector billions and hinder growth in value-added exports.
4. Ukraine Conflict and Wheat Prices:
The Ukraine conflict continues to disrupt global grain supply chains, reducing wheat production and exports from some of the most productive wheat regions of the world. With 5 to 7 million acres (7.5% of cropland) lost in Ukraine over the past three years, global wheat prices have risen, opening opportunities for those Australian exporters that can supply cost-competitively (especially into Asia).
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) projects a more stable ratio of around 29.8% for 2024/25, indicating a relatively comfortable supply situation globally. However, this scenario encourages Australian farmers to adopt innovative agricultural technologies to boost production efficiency, reduce shipping and handling costs, and meet the rising global demand for high-quality wheat.
5. European Union Environmental Policies:
The European Union has implemented stringent environmental regulations, such as the deforestation law aimed at banning imports linked to deforestation. Although the enforcement of this law has been postponed to December 2025 for large companies, it signals the EU's ongoing commitment to sustainable production practices. Other regulatory changes may impact the use of agri-inputs and the carbon intensity of production for agricultural products allowed to be imported into the EU, and mandatory reporting of scope 3 emissions under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).
Increasingly, these policies are likely to influence Australian farmers (especially livestock farmers) to adopt regenerative practices and emissions-reduction technologies in order to maintain access to the European market. The Australian Government and industry bodies are actively engaging with the EU to align definitions and ensure Australian agricultural practices meet the new standards.
Agtech can Support a More Resilient Farming Future
"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." – John Archibald Wheeler
Australia stands at an inflection point.
Global disruptions – whether climate shocks, geopolitical tensions, or evolving trade dynamics – are redefining the landscape of agriculture. Resilience is no longer just about weathering uncertainty; it’s about actively shaping the future.
With one of the strongest biosecurity systems in the world and a strategic position in the rapidly growing Asia-Pacific market, Australia has a unique opportunity to lead as a high-quality and sustainable producer of agricultural exports to feed the growing Asian middle class. The challenge now is to accelerate innovation in key areas – AI-driven biosecurity, regenerative farming, carbon-smart agriculture, generative AI and digital twins – that will not only future-proof our food systems but also set new global benchmarks.
The next decade will be defined by how well we harness emerging technologies into age-old practices, build cross-sector collaboration between agriculture and researchers, and scale solutions that make agriculture more adaptive and sustainable to the challenges that lay ahead. The question for Australia cannot be whether Australian agtech will rise to the challenge – it must instead be how quickly we can seize the opportunity to lead agtech on the world stage.
