The theme for the 2017 conference is “Doing more with less”.  A central plank of Australia’s productive output is agriculture, worth over AUD$13.6 billion exported annually.  Agronomy is key to ensuring that farmland is productive across Australia’s diverse landscapes.  Innovation in machinery and precision technologies, plant species and varieties, soil and plant management may allow the agronomist of today to successfully help agricultural producers thrive.  These innovations are timely as the world deals with increasingly variable climates, environmental degradation, and a more developed global community that requires more diverse products from agriculture.