The world needs creative, innovative and courageous young people who can connect, collaborate and act. We know that youth may only be 20% of the population but they are 100% of the future. The time is now to let them share their dreams and design the future they want to see.
Young Farming Champions Emma Turner and Hamish McGrath were two of four finalists in the NSW Landmark Merino Scholarship which was announced on 23rd August 2017 at the Merino National held in Dubbo .
To win the scholarship Emma was identified by the judges as epitomising ‘our best, most passionate & committed young “Merino” people.”
Emma received $2000 towards tertiary education tuition, for the purchase of text books or study material.
To be eligible you must be –
Between 18-28 years of age
Currently studying a university course or Tafe equivalent full or part time
Committed to a career in the industry and it’s advancement
Have a desire to develop skills, knowledge and experience in the agricultural industry
Emma was selected to participate in the Young Farming Champions program in 2014. She has had extensive media and communications training as well as attended workshops where she received consumer and social licence insights.
Emma remains active in the program as an alumni visiting schools yearly as part of The Archibull Prize.
You can follow Emma on Instagram @emma_laurel_ where she has 3,200 followers who enjoy her posts about farming on a 250,000 acre sheep station
Two members of the Art4Agriculture team were recently acknowledged for their contribution to the agriculture sector at the Australian Farmer of the Year Awards. Young Farming Champion Daniel Fox was runner up in the Young Farmer of the Year at the awards held at Parliament House in Canberra on 16th August. Greg Mills one of our Young Farming Champions communications experts and trainer won the Rural Consultant of the Year
Attending the awards our National Program Director was very impressed with how each of the winners shared their story
The winner of the 2017 Young Farmer of the Year is Jason Smith a dairy farmer from south-west Victoria. Jason is a great example of the modern ethos that ‘you don’t have to own the land to farm the land” and has successfully used the equity partnerships model to build his dairy business
Jason is a fifth-generation dairy farmer who, after the sale of the family farm, ventured out independently and today leases land in south west Victoria, running 300 stud Jersey and Illawarra cattle along with 200 young stock.
His passion and commitment to the industry is evident through his drive to succeed, furthering his leadership skills through education and leadership courses, and supporting the local community.
“Dairy farming is in my blood,” Jason said. “It was always what I saw myself doing.”
“Our family farm was sold when I was quite young. Venturing out on my own was a big risk and was going to be hard work, but I knew I needed to do it to achieve my goals. I had to make the decision, amidst severe drought, to leave the area I knew so well to farm further south, but it was the best move I could have made.”
“The Australian dairy industry has experienced some really tough times in the last few years, with the milk-price crisis and drought. Like so many others, I am dealing daily with those issues, but I am focused on working my way out of this challenging period.”
Jason is committed to his dairy business and on his leased property, is currently co-ordinating the clearing of 200 hectares of former blue gum plantations to reclaim the area for his dairy herd.
“My intention is to grow the herd to 600 cows within four years,” Jason said. “I have plans for a new dairy and to build an underpass to access the farms on the other side of the road, along with some other major infrastructure changes to ensure the farms growth.”
“I also have a goal to move from a lease arrangement to an equity partnership with the owner of the property I am leasing.”
Jason has shown a commitment to leadership within the industry, completing a Certificate 3 and 4 in Agriculture and engaging in a range of courses including the Woolworths Rural Leaders Course, Marcus Oldham Rural Leadership Program and Loddon Murray Community Leadership Program.
Norm Stone, Jason’s former TAFE lecturer, believes it is Jason’s dedication and determination which has seen him achieve his goals.
“Jason is a true ambassador for the dairy industry,” Mr Stone said. “He has a real love for his stock and embodies the commitment required to run a good modern herd, including investing the time and effort into a strong breeding program.”
The 2017 Young Farmer of the Year Award is sponsored by global leader in agricultural equipment, Case IH.
Case IH Brand Leader, Bruce Healy, commended Jason on his achievements and his ability to build a successful farming business from scratch.
“It is young farmers like Jason who we want to see out there in the industry, using their passion for agriculture and their personal drive to run a thriving farm,” Mr Healy said.
“Case IH has always acknowledged innovation and forward thinking as being integral to success and Jason certainly embodies these and makes a very worthy winner of the 2017 Young Farmer of the Year Award.”
Jason is keen to use his win to encourage other young farmers to invest in themselves as well as the farm.
“Like most farmers, my number one priority has always been the farm and my stock,” Jason said. “But I have seen great value in investing in improving my business and leadership skills.”
“There are some great programs and courses out there to help you to look outside the traditional square box and give you the confidence to turn those innovative ideas into reality.” Source
A big shoutout to Greg Mills of GoAhead Business Solutions our favourite Rural Consultant, workshop facilitator, communications expert extraordinaire and all round great guy who was named 2017 Australian Rural Consultant of the Year at the Australian Farmer of the Year Awards, held by the Kondinin Group and ABC Rural. The award, announced at Parliament House in Canberra on August 16, recognises those making a significant contribution to Australian Agriculture
Working primarily in the intensive livestock industries, Greg offers a range of consultancy services to farming families, agricultural businesses and industry organisations.
However, it is his enthusiasm for agriculture and his ability to present information to a diverse audience which has made him a go-to mentor for many of tomorrow’s industry leaders.
Greg is widely known as a consultant with a passion to share strategies which build trust in farmers and agricultural industries; who isn’t afraid to face some of most challenging issues facing modern animal agriculture.
This includes confronting animal activist issues, particularly regarding the egg industry.
“Farmers and industries need new strategies to maintain their social licence to operate,” Greg said. “That is, the privilege of operating a farming business with minimal formalised restrictions based on maintaining public trust.”
“When the public trusts farmers to do what’s right they won’t feel the need to impose more controls through legislation, regulation or market requirements.”
Greg has positioned himself as a leading international authority on social license and values-based communication, and has a collaborative relationship with the US-based Center for Food Integrity. With his understanding of both the philosophy and approach to building trust, Greg has developed the Engage training program in Australia which empowers others to use these principles.
“Winning the 2017 Rural Consultant of the Year Award is a fantastic opportunity and will help me highlight the important issues currently facing Australian agriculture, like how the implementation of new technologies and production practices in the future will require continued community support,” Greg said.
“The Award also showcases how rural consultants are rising to the challenge of assisting farmers with the evolving issues of increasing complexity in the modern agricultural environment.”
Greg is an advocate for young professionals in agriculture. He is a key mentor and trainer for the Young Farming Champions Program where he shares his experience and gives participants the skills needed to communicate their own agricultural story with confidence.
Lynne Strong, who is the National Program Director at Picture You in Agriculture and runs the Young Farming Champions Program, believes Greg is always ahead of the curve.
“There are very few people out there like Greg,” Ms Strong said. “He is generous in his approach with our young leaders; providing them with the tools and confidence to stand up and speak on a variety of topics.”
“The expertise, knowledge and skills he brings to the organisation, along with his reliability, are second to none. He is outstanding.”
Research scientist Dr Jo Newton believes Mr Mills’ encouragement has been vital to her career. “In 2015 I was accepted into the Australian Futures Project Actions for NSW Agriculture Initiative, something I do not think would have been possible without Greg’s assistance,” Dr Newton said. “In a nutshell being mentored by Greg and being a part of the YFC program has helped me develop the skills and confidence to aim higher than I previously dreamed was possible.”
Greg Mills and Team BASF who sponsored the Australian Rural Consultant Award
BASF Head of Agriculture for Australia and New Zealand, Gavin Jackson, said Greg was an extremely worthy recipient of the Rural Consultant of the Year Award, acknowledging the work Greg continues to do with industry has had significant impact back to farmers.
“His work in livestock management, strategic farm business management, scientific communications, issue management and project planning and implementation has had a real positive impact not only within industry, but for many farming enterprises,” Mr Jackson said.
“Greg champions the big issues for all farmers.” Source
Young Farming Champion Sam Coggins was sponsored to attend the Chicago Council Food Security Symposium in Washington DC in March as part of the ‘Next Generation Delegation’.
Following his participation Sam was invited to write a guest blog for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs website
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs is pleased to present the 2017 Next Generation Delegates blog series. This year’s Delegation was comprised of 20 outstanding students from universities across the United States and around the world studying agriculture, food, and related disciplines. We were thrilled to feature these emerging leaders at the Global Food Security Symposium 2017, and look forward to sharing the exciting work of this extraordinary group.
This is what Sam had to say
The two words required to sell careers in agriculture to young people
Agriculture’s image problem
My mate Michael couldn’t stop laughing. I had just told him that I was going to Sydney University to study agricultural science. “What are you going to do? Build scarecrows?”
The stigma surrounding careers in agriculture spreads beyond the suburbs of Australia. I met fellow agriculture students Adrian Bantgeui (Philippines), Toluwase Olukayode (Nigeria) and Cassandra Proctor (USA) at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. Despite different backgrounds, we all shared similar stories:
Adrian shared that Filipino students are belittled for studying “agriculture lamang” (Tagalog for ‘only agriculture’).
Cassandra lamented that American youths ask “ew, why study plants? That’s so boring”.
Toluwase described how Nigerian agriculture is perceived to be an “industry for poor people”.
Adrian shared that Filipino students are belittled for studying “agriculture lamang” (Tagalog for ‘only agriculture’).
It seems that careers in agriculture are universally mistaken for not being sophisticated, interesting or lucrative. This is hard to believe considering avoiding a global food shortage is one of our generation’s great challenges. A panel was assembled at the Chicago Council Food Security Symposium in Washington DC to discuss how we can “dial in a new way of thinking about agriculture as a career of first choice”.
How notto sell careers in agriculture
The instinctive strategy for selling careers in agriculture is to talk about our unique interests in it. Too many times I’ve tried to share my love for soil using passion, humour and enthusiasm. You’d be surprised how good my joke about soil health is! Even so, my efforts are generally met with the response, “that’s nice but agriculture is not for me”.
There is more to agriculture than soil. Agriculture is about land rights, social science, animal husbandry, education, trade policy, plant pathology, anthropology, drone technology… the list continues.
In view of this, agriculture can be for everyone! The challenge is not to force our agricultural passions onto young people but to make agriculture accessible to their passions. How do we do this? From my perspective, careers in agriculture are characterized by two words that resonate with my generation:
Cassandra lamented that American youths ask “ew, why study plants? That’s so boring”.
Word 1: Meaning
Agriculture is about putting food on people’s plates and clothes on people’s backs. Sustainably growing more nutritious food with less resources enables farmers to support their families, protect the environment and nourish their communities.
Agriculture is a powerful tool for contributing to things that matter: poverty alleviation, environmental conservation and food security. What career choice could be more meaningful than that?
Word 2: Excitement
An education in agriculture not only empowers you to improve the world, it lets you truly see the world. Since commencing my undergraduate degree in 2014, I have worked on a salmon farm in Tasmania, researched soil microbiology in Canberra, interned at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, joined an anti-food wastage society in central Sydney, attended a food security conference in Washington DC and attempted in vain to plough a rice field with buffalo while studying in the mountains of Sri Lanka. The wide-ranging opportunities in agriculture are not limited to building scarecrows, which would also be fun.
Toluwase described how Nigerian agriculture is perceived to be an “industry for poor people”.
How to sell careers in agriculture to young people
Escaping normality and doing something meaningful appeals to my generation. I do not subscribe to the belief that today’s young people are self-obsessed. Young people that I know want more from their career than a comfortable lifestyle and a stable salary. They want to travel the world and they want to make it better. A career in agriculture is a grounded mechanism for doing exactly that.
The photos in this blog show Adrian, Cassandra and Toluwase wearing a t-shirt bearing the words: “magatnim ay di biro” (Tagalog for ‘farming is not a joke’).
I believe that young people will own this message if we sell careers in agriculture as careers of excitement and meaning.
Yes Sam, if we want to attract the best and the brightest minds we must give them a reason to choose agriculture over everything else. It is these people who will be the changemakers that will deliver the vibrant, profitable and dynamic future of agriculture that it deserves to have. Read our founder Lynne Strong’s blog post for The Australian Farmer on the Image of Agriculture here
Read previous blogs by the 2017 Next Generation Delegates:
To win the scholarship Emma was identified by the judges as epitomising ‘our best, most passionate & committed young “Merino” people.”
