Seed Business Convention is the Australian seed industry’s three-day convention held in late August.

Seed Business Convention 2025

For the first time ever, the New Zealand Grain and Seed Trade Association and the Australian Seed Federation are joining forces for an joint Seed Business 2025 in Christchurch, New Zealand! This collaboration promises to inspire and connect leaders across the Australian and New Zealand seed sectors.

Support Seed Business 2025

Click here to view the 2025 Sponsorship prospectus: Seed Business Sponsorship Prospectus

Registrations

Open February 2025!

Contact us

For questions or additional information, please contact Alysha, alockley@asf.asn.au, or Sharon, sharon.dawe@seedindustrynz.co.nz.

Seed Business Convention 2024

And that’s a wrap! A huge thank you to everyone who attended Seed Business 2024 and made it what it was – our biggest Seed Business ever! With more than 170 attendees from all ends of Australia, we had a great time bringing together the diverse Australian seed industry at the beautiful Sunshine Coast.

This year, alongside our prestigious President’s Award, we introduced three new awards to celebrate others within our industry. A huge congratulations to the following: President’s Award: Bill Brown, Mainfreight; Emerging Leader Award: Ben Farmer, Wilkei Seeds; Women in Seed Award: Melissa Gooseman, DLF Seeds; Great Exhibitor Pitch: Australian Seed Labs.

We also celebrated our own team member, Alysha Lockley, for 15 years of service to the ASF, recognised recent Seed Industry Professional Program graduates, and saw Mark Schmidt take out this year’s Seed Business Challenge. Congratulations to all award winners for their dedication and contributions.

At our AGM, we elected the ASF Board, President Tim March of Rijk Zwaan, Vice Presidents Dale Skepper of RAGT and Ken Cunliffe of AgEtal as well as Craig Myall of Synergy Seeds as Director. Rowena Petrie has finished her term as President and moves to the role of Immediate Past President, replacing Tim Pepper who officially finished his role on the ASF Board. We are grateful to Rowena for her years as President, especially her obvious passion and heart for the industry.

Our regional office bearers were also elected. Brent Scott, DLF Seeds, will Chair the Northern region, and Anthony Quilter, DLF Seeds, will Chair the Southern region. They join re-elected Mick Ahearn (Chair, South-Eastern), James Whiteley (Chair, Eastern) and Glen Liebold (Chair, Western).

Seed Business kicked off with an inspiring Leadership Day with an AI workshop from Julian Moore. This workshop opened our eyes to fast developing AI technology, and how we can utilise it in better in the seed industry. We also heard fantastic presentations on topics including, sustainability – including the latest on the bagMUSTER program, workforce, blockchain, pollination and plant breeding innovation.

We had a full room for our Women in Seed Lunch, with guest speaker Caitlin Crowley. Caitlin spoke about the role that women are playing in shaping regional Australia. It was great to see so many women in the room sharing their stories and experiences from our industry.

None of this would have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors and exhibitors. Thank you to our Major Sponsor, DLF Seeds.

Seed Business Convention 2023

Seed Business 2023

What a great time we shared in Adelaide for Seed Business 2023. Our thanks to every one of the 160+ people who attended over the four days. We hope you got just as much out of it as we did.

At the Gala Dinner we honoured three individuals with Life Membership to ASF. Mike Gout, Bruce Guy and Marcia Taylor were all recognised for their extraordinary contributions to our industry over their careers.

The inaugural President’s Award was also celebrated last week with Immediate Past President, Tim Pepper, honouring Michael Leader with the Award. Michael has no doubt gone above and beyond for the seed industry representing ASF most capably at both the domestic and international level.

The conference program component of Seed Business was well attended. Attendees were able to hear latest updates on industry trends and issues as well as perspectives from other industries. We thank the speakers who gave their time so willingly.

Another highlight was our second Women in Seed event which sold out yet again. We’re already in discussions about growing that network to ensure a diverse seed industry into the future.

Without the generous support of our sponsors and exhibitors, Seed Business would not be possible. The additional sponsorship we received this year allowed us to add some extra elements like a coffee cart and photographer for the Gala Dinner, both of which added to the overall feel of the Convention.

Seed Business Convention 2022

It was great to get back together again after a three-year hiatus. in 2022 120 delegates from across Australia representing over 60 seed and agriculture companies came together in Brisbane.

Tim Pepper, the outgoing ASF President welcomed delegates; “It has been a tumultuous three years since we last gathered as an industry, and as my tenure as ASF President draws to a close, I would like to reflect on what brings us together as an association… a mutual passion for a seed industry that drives productivity and sustainability in Australia and around the world.”

Read the full wrap-up here: ASF Seed Business Convention 2022 Wrap-Up