Agribusiness professionals and the media turned out in force to support the Rural Press Club of Queensland's first in-person event in almost 12 months.
The crowd heard from John Deere Australia and New Zealand managing director Luke Chandler spoke about the company's focus on innovation and how it can help farmers grow the food and fibre sector.
"While you might hear a lot about ag tech being a new industry, it's not new for us and it's not new for us in Australia," he said.
Mr Chandler pointed to the role of cotton and grains farmers in northern NSW in helping to develop GPS and yield mapping technology, which has become a major part of precision agriculture, and is used around the world.
The company has grown from its humble beginnings in Illinois 184 years ago into one of the world's largest agricultural machinery manufacturers.
