This year’s Tractor & Machinery Association conference was based around one pressing question – ‘are we future ready?’
Australia’s agricultural machinery industry gathered in Melbourne on July 24, with a range of speakers discussing the future and whether the nation was prepared for what lies ahead.
About 200 people were at the Hyatt Essendon Fields and heard presentations based on topics as broad as artificial intelligence, mental health and the state of the economy.
The day’s opening speaker was Rabobank’s Lachlan Monsbourgh, who looked ahead to 2050 and what both Australian and global agriculture could expect.
One of the day’s highlights was a presentation from Seftons founder Robbie Sefton, who spoke about innovation, growth and opportunity along with the importance of leadership.
She told Farms & Farm Machinery the TMA was a “really important organisation” and described the conference as an annual opportunity to get together and discuss critical issues and opportunities that are facing the industry.
“As always, farmers are facing challenges like dry weather and global uncertainty with their products,” she said.
“Why Seftons is here is to just talk a bit about what is happening in agriculture; the innovation, the opportunities for young people and how dealerships and the TMA members can start to understand farmers a little bit better and how they make decisions, and how they can integrate young people and women into their businesses, whether that is in dealerships or through the supply chain.”
One of the conference’s regular speakers is Kynetec’s Melinda Haley.
Kynetec provides the monthly machinery sales figures which are reported in Farms & Farm Machinery and which provide an insight into how the market is performing on both an annual basis and compared to the same month last year.
Among the insights she shared is that as of June, 4,840 tractors had been sold across Australia for the year-to-date, a figure which was 10 per cent below the first half of 2024, with roughly two-thirds of these being above 60hp units.
During the 2024-25 financial year, there was 9,696 tractors sold in Australia and this was 12 per cent down from the 2023- 24 financial year.
“Through the data collection that we do in the machinery industry, we are very proud partners of the TMA to provide insights back to the industry,” Haley said to Farms & Farm Machinery.
“Kynetec is one of the leading companies that will provide agricultural insights across the board and we’re quite proud to be able to work with the machinery industry and provide valuable insights to help guide them with what has been going on and where their future developments can occur.”
The wider economy was looked at by Westpac senior economist Justin Smirk, who is another regular speaker at TMA conferences.
Among his insights were that the global tariff work would have a “small but manageable” impact on Australia, while a cautious easing of domestic interest rates by the Reserve Bank would lead to a slow consumer recovery.
He believes agriculture is transitioning back to the average following a better than average period and says that continued productivity improvements will be critical for the industry’s longer-term sustainability.
Other speakers included Gus Hogan from Delta Agribusiness who provided insights from on-farm advisors on machinery and technology, along with Jem Richards from Red Bear who discussed cybersecurity and artificial intelligence in agriculture.
The event’s after-dinner speaker was former Australian cricketer Brad Hogg, who shared stories from his playing career.
This was alongside a powerful message about the importance of mental health – particularly in rural communities – thanks to Hogg’s role as the national ambassador for Grain Producers Australia’s Farmer Mates Mental Health program.
Full presentations from the conference are available on the association’s website at www.tma.asn.au
