Shaping the Future of Agricultural Engineering

The AgEng2024 conference at the Agricultural University of Athens, the historic capital city of Greece, was a great opportunity to keep abreast of the latest global and European agricultural engineering research. Secretary General Andy Newbold reports.

The theme of Agricultural Engineering challenges in existing and new agroecosystems attracted over 300 delegates, representing 34 countries. With 230 plus oral presentations and 120 poster papers over four days in July, the congress was the place to be.

Keynote paper

Outgoing EurAgEng president Professor Dr Barbara Sturm, Professor for Agricultural Engineering in bioeconomic Systems at the  Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), welcomed delegates to the conference.

The conference keynote paper was presented by Dr Peter Demeyer, Environment Technology Group Leader,  Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), entitled AgEngScience4IMPACT: the compelling case of livestock emissions in the EU.  Peter said “We are active in a complex field with high uncertainties.”

Parallel streams

With five parallel sessions throughout both conference days, there was plenty to choose from. Themes included:

• Assessment and mitigation of gaseous emissions from livestock farms
• AI Applications in speciality crops
• Smart crop farming and precision agriculture
• Post harvest technologies and losses
• Sustainable production in farm buildings
• Energy and bioenergy
• Integrated and sustainable farming systems
• Fossil free livestock farming
• Automation, robotics and sensor technology
• Circular economy
• Soil, land and water engineering
• Artificial intelligence, data processing and management

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