The second Agriculture and Climate Change conference focused on the likely impact of climate change on crop production and explored approaches to maintain and increase crop productivity in a changing climate. Approximately 300 delegates attended the conference, and thus provided an opportunity for numerous seminars, posters and discussions on climate change research in a diverse range of crops. The themes for the sessions included: increased agricultural uncertainty; modelling and its application; impacts on nutrition, quality and resource use efficiency; abiotic stress; effects of CO2 on plant growth; plant-microbe interactions; innovative agronomic and breeding practices; and new crops for a new climate.

Australian research was well received by the international scientific community. This was an exciting opportunity to showcase research conducted in the Australian Cotton Industry, and there was a lot of interest regarding how the cotton industry operates in Australia. There was significant interest from other scientists regarding our in-field chambers and the experiments we were conducting in the facility. It was clear that our approach was novel and unique in this area, and my presentations generated discussions about the importance of in-field research into climate change interactions. This trip was important to begin linkages with European agricultural scientists, in addition to our close collaborations with U.S. research. A number of scientists expressed interest in continuing discussions and looking for collaborations in this area.