Weeding robots, autonomous drones and precision spot spraying: artificial intelligence is opening up new possibilities for agriculture. But how does it get from concept to field and farm? That is the focus of “AI meets Agriculture” on Monday, 19 October 2026, in Wieselburg, a joint event of AI Factory Austria AI:AT and Francisco Josephinum with Josephinum Research. Also taking part are the European Digital Innovation Hub (EDIH) AI5innovation and agrifoodTEF, the European Testing and Experimentation Facility for AI and robotics in the agri-food sector.
To open the event, AI Factory Austria AI:AT and Francisco Josephinum cordially invite you to a press conference. Federal Minister Norbert Totschnig (BMLUK) and Lower Austria’s Deputy Governor Stephan Pernkopf will join those responsible for the three initiatives to discuss how companies, researchers and farms can access AI expertise, European computing infrastructure and testing under real-world conditions, and which applications for agriculture are emerging as a result. The press conference will be held in German.
Press conference “AI meets Agriculture”
Monday, 19 October 2026, 12:15 (arrival from 12:00)
HBLFA Francisco Josephinum, Schloss Weinzierl, Weinzierl 1, 3250 Wieselburg, Austria
Speakers
- Norbert Totschnig, Federal Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Climate and Environmental Protection, Regions and Water Management (BMLUK)
- Stephan Pernkopf, Deputy Governor of Lower Austria
- Karl Kugler, Co-Lead of AI Factory Austria AI:AT, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology
- Markus Stöhr, Co-Lead of AI Factory Austria AI:AT, Advanced Computing Austria (ACA)
- Franz Sümecz, Coordinator EDIH AI5innovation, TU Wien
Programme on Monday, 19 October 2026
12:00: Arrival and lunch
12:15: Press conference (approx. 45 minutes)
13:00: Welcome and keynotes, including Federal Minister Norbert Totschnig, Deputy Governor Stephan Pernkopf, Martin Kerschbaumer (Director, HBLFA Francisco Josephinum) and Gabriel Carlin (European Commission, DG CNECT)
13:40: Project presentations by AI Factory Austria AI:AT, EDIH AI5innovation and agrifoodTEF with practical examples
14:30: Panel discussion “From research to the field”
15:30: Transfer to the “Field of Innovations” of Josephinum Research
16:00: Field tour: weeding robots, autonomous drones and spot spraying in action
17:00: Get-together in the field (until 18:00)
Photos and interviews
APA-Fotoservice will cover the press conference and make the photos available royalty-free afterwards, including in the OTS image archive at bild.ots.at and at www.apa-fotoservice.at. The field tour from 16:00 offers good opportunities for photos and video.
After the press conference there will be an opportunity for short individual interviews where possible. Please send interview requests in advance to presse@ai-at.eu. The digital press kit is available on site via QR code; background material and photos of AI Factory Austria AI:AT are available in the Media Center at presse.ai-at.eu.
Accreditation
Please confirm your attendance by Friday, 16 October 2026, 16:00, to presse@ai-at.eu.
We look forward to welcoming you!
Funding Acknowledgement
AI Factory Austria AI:AT is co-funded by the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No 101253078. The JU receives support from the Horizon Europe programme of the European Union and Austria (BMIMI/FFG).