By Arslan Mahmood
From 18th to 20th August, I attended Seed Business 2026, and I am very pleased to share my experience. I found the event extremely useful, informative and resourceful. On the first day, I attended a leadership forum led by Georgia Stormont, Founder and CEO of Selling in the Paddock. She delivered training focused on understand growers and farmers personalities and building trust with them. Georgia works with agricultural companies to develop commercially confident sales teams. The session was an extensive three-hour workshop that provided valuable training in leadership, communication and sales. One of the concepts I found particularly valuable was the DISC (Dominance, Influence, Conscientiousness and Steadiness) framework. It offered a great understanding of how people tend to communicate, respond, make decisions and interact with others. Through this leadership forum, I improved my communication skills by learning how to recognise different personality types and respond to them more effectively.
After the workshop, I joined the Women in Seed Lunch, which was held at an Italian restaurant. During the lunch, we were entertained by Claire Hooper, a comedian, writer and TV host, which I really enjoyed. She told us about her family, hobbies and friend circles in a plant theme way which was very cool. Later that evening, the Seed Business officially started with a welcome reception, where I had the opportunity to meet variety of farmers and company owners. I discussed my PhD project with them and gained valuable insights into their farming experiences, the challenges they currently face and the strategies they use to overcome those challenges.
On 19th August, I attended various presentations delivered by representatives from various companies and organizations including Alicia Garden (CEO, Agsafe), Fiona Chambers (CEO Wheen Bee Foundation), Stephen Annells (CEO, Fertilizer Australia) John Manning (Sorted Seed Technologies), Narelle Moore (CEO, Australian Crop Breeders), Tim Ross (Operations Manager, Grain Trade Australia) and Rosemary Richards (Chair, Australian Oilseeds Federation, AOF). The main aim of the presentations was to update ASF members (farmers and growers) on current technologies, the facilities and support available to them, and the opportunities within the seed and grain industry. The event also featured exhibition booths from different companies showcasing their machinery, mainly seed-sorting machines that use optical and AI technologies.
Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to meet any farmers or growers working with canola or major crops. The people I engaged with were mainly involved with pasture and horticultural crops. However, I had the opportunity to discuss my project with Centre partner Rosemary Richards, chair of the AOF. We discussed about the canola blackleg problem, and she was very happy about my project progress. She invited me to present my research at the AOF annual meeting, which I believe will be an excellent opportunity to introduce my project to AOF members and other industry stakeholders.
In addition, I attended the ASF Annual general meeting (AGM) which I really enjoyed seeing discussions on the achievements over the past year and its future plans and priorities. Lastly, I also met with Aline Passos, canola research officer at Pacific Seeds, who was attending the event as a company representative. We discussed the progress of my PhD research and future work.
Overall, I enjoyed attending Seed Business 2026 and would strongly recommend that students and ECRs participate in Seed Business. Such events provide valuable opportunities to build professional networks and connection with industry representatives, growers and farmers.
I would like to sincerely thank Katherine Delbridge, CEO of ASF, for providing me with this sponsored opportunity. I would also like to thank David Jensen, General Manager of Enza Zaden, for sponsoring students to attend this wonderful event.