The National Renewables in Agriculture Conference and Expo started in 2019 and was developed due to a need to provide credible, independent advice to farmers about how they could replace diesel and electricity on their farms with renewables. It has been designed to address the barriers to the uptake of renewables and aims to share stories directly from farmers using renewables with others about what they’ve done, the benefits and what they’ve learnt.

The Conference has evolved to increase knowledge about the opportunities for farmers in the national energy transition, what benefits regional communities can advocate for and how long term meaningful and positive change will be achieved.

A Conference Committee was brought together to help drive the event, with membership from NSW Farmers, Clean Energy Council, Farmers for Climate Action, NSW Department of Primary Industries, AgVic, Queensland Farmers Federation, National Irrigators Council and Office of Energy and Climate Change.

Karin Stark, Conference Founder, lives on a farm in the Central West NSW, is Director of her business Farm Renewables Consulting, a member of the NSW Farmers ‘Energy Transition Working Group’ and is an advocate for agrivoltaics; the co-location of solar and farming. She was invited to participate in the Sydney Powerhouse ‘100 Climate Conversations’ project, showcasing leaders taking action to respond to climate change.