Tallahassee, Fla. – Thursday concluded the second annual Florida-International Agriculture Innovation Summit hosted by Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) in collaboration with the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator (FIBA) and the governments of Florida, Israel, Canada, and the Netherlands.

“This year’s summit brought together an all-star team of farmers, ranchers, scientists, investors, and global agriculture powerhouses,” said Commissioner Fried. “I thank the Florida-Israel Business Accelerator, the governments of Israel, Canada, and the Netherlands, and our partners in the agriculture industry for coming together to work to break ground on sustainable new technologies and take on the biggest challenges of the future.”

The virtual summit kicked off Wednesday, March 30 with participants hearing from FDACS Interim Assistant Commissioner Shelby Scarpa, FDACS Rural Affairs Director Alan Brock, Consul General of Canada in Miami Susan Harper, Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Miami Ruth Emmerink, Consul General of Israel in Miami Maor Elbaz-Starinsky, Commissioner Fried, and members of the worldwide agriculture industry. Participants had the chance to hear from keynote speaker Dr. Mark Penning, Vice-President; Animals, Science and Environment for Walt Disney Parks and shared with the Summit Walt Disney World’s efforts for sustainability and agriculture innovations.

The summit concluded on Thursday, March 31 with keynote speaker Amy Wu, founder of From Farms to Incubators and author, artist, and founder of ‘From Farms to Incubators,’ and award-winning writer for Women’s Agriculture and AgTech Movement.  Amy discussed ways to help inspire women to become more involved in the AgTech sector during her keynote address titled “From Farms to Incubators-How Women Leaders are Transforming Agriculture Through Innovation.”

Over 300 registered attendees heard from 50 speakers and panelists on a wide range of topics relating to sustainability, water conservation and precision agriculture, with contributions from growers, businesses, scientists, educators, government officials, and more. The summit built on the results of Commissioner Fried’s trade mission to Israel in 2019, after which she formed Florida’s first Agriculture Innovation Workgroup to recommend new practices.

Recordings of the sessions will be available in the coming weeks.

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