Pest READI at Hort Connections 2025: Building Partnerships, Exploring Innovation
The Pest READI team headed to Hort Connections 2025 this month, joining thousands from across Australia’s horticulture sector for one of the biggest events on the industry calendar. With its strong focus on industry connection, emerging technologies and agtech innovation, the event offered a valuable opportunity to connect with key players and explore potential collaborations that could help shape the future of pest management in horticulture.
Pest READI Team Members Paul Melloy, Tracey Steinrucken, Simon Fielke and Zelalem Moti at Hort Connections 2025
This year’s event gave us valuable insight into where the industry’s heading. Unsurprisingly, automation, mechanisation and AI featured heavily – especially as ways to address ongoing labour shortages. Sustainability was also part of the conversation, although usually framed around reducing chemical inputs through precision agriculture. A few standout presentations dug deeper, especially those looking at soil health and regenerative practices in commercial vegetable production.
Throughout the event, Pest READI representatives engaged in dozens of fruitful conversations with technology providers, research collaborators, and industry leaders. From advanced record-keeping platforms and AI data tools to the role of extension agents as innovation brokers, the landscape is rich with opportunities for co-design and knowledge sharing. Discussions also highlighted the appetite among partners for practical, regional collaboration and the value of our systems approach to area-wide IPM.
Discussions with Scott Wallace from GrowCom about the new Hort360 IPM Benchmarking tool
For our team, the real value came from the conversations – both planned and spontaneous. We had some great discussions about the future of area-wide IPM, digital decision support, and the role of innovation brokers in helping new ideas take root. The event provided space to reflect on Pest READI’s progress to date, share our story with new audiences, and refine ideas for future engagement. One clear takeaway is that to get the most out of this kind of event, it helps to arrive with a plan: book meetings ahead, know who you want to talk to, and have a clear focus. That said, there’s still plenty to learn from the chance encounters and informal chats.
We’re already thinking about how Pest READI might show up next year – perhaps by hosting a workshop or session to bring growers, advisors and tech developers together in the same room. There’s a lot of energy in the sector, and it’s clear that practical, collaborative approaches to pest management are gaining momentum.