Global demand for plant production is at an all-time high. As the human population has increased there has been a steady decline in arable land despite a steady increase in average yield per land area. The ARC CoE for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture is making significant advances in the emerging fields of evolutionary systems biology (how plants work and evolve) and predictive analytics (mathematics) to deliver novel strategies for improving ecosystem management, crop resilience, and yield. Parallel advances in legal and social frameworks are modernising outdated precedents in these areas, enabling truly impactful research to be fully recognised, with greater scope for commercialisation and public uptake.