Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the incredible event that is AgVision

This one-day agricultural careers expo is the brain child  of Junee high school teacher Sandra Heffernan and team and is designed to inform students and educators about the broad range of careers available in agriculture, science and agri-business. Students from Years 9-11 had the opportunity to learn from industry experts and to select five workshops from a choice of 50 hands-on sessions.

This year the RAS of NSW hosted the event and invited the Art4Agriculture Young Farming Champions to help them showcase the exciting young people who have chosen diverse careers in agriculture.

Young Farming Champions Tom Tourle and Tim Eyes are great advocates for the TAFE pathways

Peta Bradley, Dee George, Kylie Schuller, Martin Murray and Rebecca Thistlethwaite all shared their university adventure

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Our industry bodies were there en masse and if they weren’t there was some-body else doing a great job of showcasing their industry

Well done UNE – loved the grain fed versus grass fed session hosted by Kylie Schuller. Learnt so much and the students were glued to Kylie’s every word

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I had the opportunity to see the sessions run by Belinda Cay from Agcommunicators on behalf of GRDC. Wow she is impressive and again it was a fantastic refresher course for me on DNA and plant science.

I will do a separate post on this activation. We have some great video footage and slides we can share with you including a great video of an experiment YFC and graduate agronomist with Elders Dee George performed for the students

Emily King from AWI hosted a great wool workshop with Tom and Peta and Amy and it was heartening the number of young people in the audience who are keen to go back to the farm and pursue the family tradition of wool production

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I was recently part of a twitter discussion with farmers few weeks ago who are very passionate about educating students and teachers about agriculture and careers in agriculture.

Most industries now have fantastic resources for schools and there a number of bodies like PIEFA, RAS of NSW and GRDC who do very impressive professional development workshops for teachers to help them roll out the resources in the classroom.

Sadly few farmers know this. Its also important for our farmers to know the aim is to raise awareness of the diversity of agriculture careers and not to necessarily educate the world about agriculture.

By farmers directly engaging with the community we can help build mutually beneficial relationships with the people who buy what farmers produce. We can show them the faith they have in farmers iin this country to produce safe and healthy food is warranted and encourage parents to be excited if their sons and daughters choose a career in the food and fibre sector

I am a farmer and I learnt a huge amount yesterday. I learnt whilst grain fed beef is tenderer I prefer the flavour of grass fed beef

I saw how exciting plant science is and I learnt a lot about wool. The community isn’t ignorant they just aren’t lucky enough to have the advantages I have. To grow up surrounded by agriculture and able to attend events like yesterday and learn about other facets of agriculture I don’t have in-depth knowledge of

Be assured farmers there are lots of wonderful people and industries funded by your levies doing a great job marketing what you do to next gen. We are just competing in a big space with very limited funding and man/woman power to achieve it

To sum up Agvision is an exhilarating event for students, teachers and display holders and I very confident it inspired many of next gen food and fibre producers to get excited about a career in ag

Today I had the opportunity to attend the NSW Farmers Annual Conference at the iconic landmark that is Luna Park in North Sydney

NSW Young Farmer Chair and Art4Agriculture Young Farming Champion Josh Gilbert had the opportunity to follow the keynote address from Hon Niall Blair MLC Minister for Primary Industries with this very inspiring speech. 

Young Farming Champions Josh Gilbert,  Martin Murray and Jo Newton with Hon Niall Blair MLC

I feel the Land.

I embrace its presence.

And I thrive at the joy in farming it.

Good morning ladies and gentlemen and thank you for the opportunity to address you on behalf of our young farmers. I would like to further acknowledge that we meet on Aboriginal land today and pay my respects to the Elders both past and present.

I stand before you today, acutely aware that my ancestors farmed the same land my family farm today, over 40,000 years ago.

I am filled with pride knowing that I’m the fourth generation to breed Braford cattle and that I can look over our herd with my Grandfather and Dad today and admire the changes and improvements we have made to the breed made over the last 50 years.

And it burns deep inside of me, every time I see rejuvenation of the landscape, every time I see that weary farmer smile at the birth of a new born calf and every time I see the next generation plan their career and future in agriculture.

I want to take you back to the time that you decided to start farming, the time when you purchased your farm, bought those first few head of livestock or planted that first crop. I want you to think about how you felt and what you were thinking of… What convinced you to take that plunge?

While I know at some stage the financials and business opportunities would have weighed heavily on your mind, I want to focus on the more romantic, practical reality here. There was that moment you decided that maybe you could start a family, settle down, and raise your children, perhaps in a similar environment that you were raised… There was a moment you decided that agriculture was not just about you or money- that it was a part of a bigger picture.

It is this dream that drives us to want to be the best farmers we possibly can – that means we borrow money to feed stock in the hard times, take the gamble on an extra property or put in that last cent just to get started.

Every day, we look over the farm and envisage utopia. From watching your daughter learn to ride a horse, your son crack a stockwhip or a wedding under the gum tree on the top of the hill- each day our drive reflects a dream for a better future, not the disruptive past.

Though too often we shy away from these foundations of what we do and why do it, instead adopting a pressured view alike stereotypical corporate business acumen- making a lot of money amidst bad decisions. So today, I want to explore this notion with you further- Australian Agriculture… It’s not about now and it’s not about me.

This is depicted seamlessly in what NSW Farmers support within our young farmers’ cohort-

• Providing 5 scholarships again this year to 5 amazing youth who will ensure the growth of our regional areas
• Sponsoring 2 incredible ladies in the Art4Agriculture project to go into schools as part of the Archibull Prize and inspire children with their stories
• Creating 4 branches around the State to guarantee that young people in Sydney and within regional NSW have their voices heard
• Individual branches sponsoring committed youth to travel here for 3 days to be engaged at Annual Conference.

Each day, our association touches the lives of young farmers and rural youth, and encourages them to create their utopia, just as we have done before them.

But the challenge for creating these dreams extends further than our young farmer group.

The phrase “we need visionaries, not profiteers” can extend no further that the current challenge upon the Liverpool Plain’s, where Fiona and the Liverpool Plain’s Youth depict our love for the land and rally for the opportunity to farm- to discover their potential for the future. Just as our city counterparts, our kids should have the opportunity to dream of a future in the same area and even the chance to farm the same land as their family have in the past. We all deserve that chance.

To keep the agricultural dream alive and to ensure that in the next 40,000 years our children can share the same opportunities have, we must work as one. We can’t let the little things get us down, we can’t challenge each other in open forums and we can’t afford not to support one another. Whether you belong in designer suits or dusty boots, if you share the dream of a better tomorrow- you are not alone.

Unlike the current media attention, our journey is in fact not about who wins or will make the most money- rather an adventure to ensure that our peers will always get the same opportunities, whether they live on the sandy beaches or on the red dust plains. This venture is not about me, it is not about you – it is about ensuring that young farmers of the future can have the opportunity to farm, if that is their desire.

Within young farmers- we are building this desire and passion to farm, providing sessions on young farmer start-up methods as we know the cost to enter the industry is high

This year we toured the south of the State with our Victorian colleagues to grasp an appreciation of where we need our businesses to go

We held a Masterchef dinner on the river in Hay to ensure our colleagues have an outreach when experiencing mental illness.

Excitingly the events we hosting, the policy we are debating and the services we are providing, we have seen over a 30% increase in membership this financial year.

At the core of this rapid turnaround is my team.

I am thankful many of them have joined me here today at Annual Conference and extend my sincere thanks to the district councils and commodity groups who have sponsored them, along with head office for their support and assistance. I would further like to congratulate Derek on his recent appointment and wish Fiona all the best wishes for the future- I know you have been a fantastic inspiration and role model for the youth in NSW.

I want to take you back to the time that you decided to start farming, the time when you purchased your farm, bought those first few head of livestock or planted that first crop. I want you to think about how you felt and what you were thinking of… What convinced you to take that plunge?

We feel the land.

We acknowledge its presence.

Thank you Josh you did the youth of Australia proud

Young Farming Champions Tim Eyes and Anika Molesworth are today taking part in Beef Jam  3-day event that takes young producers and consumers on a crash course of the Australian beef supply chain and gives them 48 hrs to reshape the way we grow, buy and eat our red meat.

Late last month Tim and Anika featured on SBS The Feed in a program that asked the question ‘Why do young people choose to become farmers in this day and age?’

Why would a sane twenty something head into a career that’s riddled with financial and environmental uncertainty?

A career with an average age of 52, that when seen on TV, it’s all cracked dirt, foreclosed farms and farmer suicide?

Andy Park joins three young Australian farmers; from the scorched outback, to the rain-drenched coast and to a food bowl feeding the nation.

They face three challenges not always talked about on TV. And Andy helps castrate a sheep.

Find out what’s on on the mind of young people working the land and how and why young farmers are forging careers despite the odds.

You can view the program here