Lessons from the Animal AgTech Innovation Summit 2020

Contributor – Dr. Edward Olajide 

The virtual Animal AgTech Innovation Summit was held on September 14, 2020, with over 500 delegates in attendance from various countries of the world. It was a 1-day summit which involved a series of discussions, presentations, and expositions on seven key themes:

• Opportunities for a Connected Future
• Automation and Precision Farming
• Digitization in Aquaculture
• Biotech in Animal Agriculture
• Detection and Prevention
• Consumer Communication
• Investment and Partnerships

The summit started with a keynote address delivered by the Kristin Peck, Zoetis Chief Executive Officer who briefly discussed on the topic “The role of Animal AgTech in Future Food Security and Sustainability” and also highlighted the important role livestock farmers play in addition to the growth of a nation’s economy more so during pandemics like the COVID-19. Some of the session speakers include Cees Jan Hollander, the Global Farming Expertise Manager, DANONE, Jeroen Van De Ven, the Chief Operating Officer, ANTELLIQ, an operating unit of MSD Animal Health, Sebastien Pascual, Director, Agribusiness, TEMASEK, and other notable speakers. The summit witnessed discussions which were categorized into sessions such as “Animal Health”, “Aquaculture”, “Precision Livestock Farming”, “Microbiome and Feed”, “Supply Chain Safety, Transparency, and Traceability”.

Worthwhile points were made on the need for collaboration and partnership among industries and individuals, improvement of animal health and well-being, animal welfare, consumer communication, and embracing new technological innovations for efficient service delivery.

Some top global investors, research institutes, technology giants, agro-based companies that attended the summit included Zoetis, MSD Animal Health, Microsoft, Faromatic, Agragene, Novozymes, Mc Donald, Arla, Global Animal Medicine Association, University of California, Davis, Pegassus, Orgomix, Aqualife, Aquabyte, and IHS Markit, just to mention a few.

At the end of the summit, it was highlighted that some of the factors that can bring about improvement in precision farming and the livestock industry were smart monitoring and early disease detection, digital innovation, and regulation of microbial solutions.

The 2020 Virtual Platform still remains active on-demand and with full access to all the session contents and networking with other industry professionals till October 14, 2020. The next edition of the virtual innovation summit has already been scheduled for March 8, 2021.