Beyond Resilience: Can Agriculture Get Stronger Under Stress?

22 Sept 2026
Auditorium
Main Stage
  • What real agricultural systems are not just surviving shocks, but measurably improving under them? What does “improvement under stress” look like in grain and cash crop systems?
  • If “antifragility" exists in agriculture, where is it most visible today and where does it break down fastest (inputs, yields, margins, logistics, or decision systems)?

  • How much of current “resilience” is dependent on external stabilisers such as subsidies, input supply chains, insurance mechanisms, and trade continuity?

  • Can agriculture be redesigned to improve under stress rather than degrade, and to structurally align capital, technology, and biology under uncertainty? Or is resilience still the ceiling of what is realistically achievable?

Host
Justin McCarthy
Justin McCarthy, CEO, GLASPORT BIO & Former Editor, - IRISH FARMERS JOURNAL
Speakers
George Eustice
George Eustice, Former Secretary of State, DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS and MD - PENBROATH
Barry Cowen
Barry Cowen, MEP and member - EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT’S AGRI COMMITTEE
Jurgen Tack
Jurgen Tack, Secretary-General - EUROPEAN LANDOWNERS’ ORGANISATION
Geert Maesmans
Geert Maesmans, VP R&D Food EMEA - CARGILL