76. Conference AgRI 2040 : Future-proofing EU agri-food through research and innovation

At the end of September 2026, the European Commission hosted the Agri 2040 conference – welcoming researchers, farmers, industrialists, entrepreneurs and political leaders to Brussels to consider how our agriculture and food sectors will look in the medium-term.

One of the questions at the heart of the discussions was: how do you take a good idea from the lab to the field?

And to do this, the EU is focusing on research, artificial intelligence, robotics and precision agriculture. But it’s not only about funding: Brussels wants to ensure that innovations are deployed and implemented on farms in the future.

But the path from the laboratory to the fields is not so well signposted. How can we ensure that innovations truly meet the needs of farmers and help transform European agriculture?