Month / March 2020

by Action4Agriculture

Applications now open to join the Young Farming Champions program

YCF - EOI

Are you an early career professional with a passion to lead and advocate for agriculture? If so then Picture You in Agriculture (PYiA), in conjunction with Corteva Agriscience, is seeking applications to join the prestigious Cultivate – Growing Young Leaders program. Graduates of this program become Young Farming Champions – a national network of globally connected young thought leaders thriving in business and in life, who are inspiring community pride in Australian agriculture.

Young people aged between 18 and 30, who are studying or who have completed an agriculture related degree, are invited to apply for the Cultivate – Growing Young Leaders program. Successful applicants will receive an incredible two-year package of support including media training, networking and mentorship opportunities to help them share their stories with the nation.

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In Year One participants will attend two mandatory immersion workshops in July and November, and The Archibull Prize Awards Ceremony. They will be partnered with a Young Farming Champion to support their journey and will be required to develop an action plan with their employer or university.

In Year Two of the program participants will put their learnings into practice by visiting schools as part of The Archibull Prize to raise awareness of Australian farming and the diversity of agricultural careers.

2020 represents the first year of collaboration between PYiA and Corteva, which extends beyond the Young Farming Champions program to the creation of resources to be used in schools to teach sustainability. Dan Dixon, ANZ Marketing Director for Corteva Agriscience is excited to participate in this initiative and support young agricultural professionals willing to champion agriculture through the wider community.

“Educating teachers, students and non-farming communities on the latest sustainable agricultural advancements and the importance of agriculture to the nation is vital to ensure that not only Australian agriculture has a voice, but that voice is providing accurate information that is then amplified through our schools,” he said.  “Previous participants of the programme are already viewed as leaders in their fields. We encourage all agriculture graduates to apply to become members of this growing community.”

Expressions of interest for the 2020 Cultivate – Growing Young Leaders program can be accessed via the Expression of Interest brochure found here 

For further information please contact Picture You in Agriculture National Director Lynne Strong at lynnestrong@pyia.com.au

 

 

by Action4Agriculture

THE ARCHIES 2020 – Real-life problems seeking real-life solutions (and money to be made at the same time)

News Flash - New model TAP

The new model for The Archibull Prize, to be piloted in 2020, asks students to identify real-world agricultural problems and explore future focused possible solutions. The model also asks them to partner with tertiary education, industry and/or government to achieve this. Which is all fine in theory but how will this work at ground level?

One example of this collaborative process is the Bridge Hub 2020 Water Challenge. Described as “a regionally based, globally connected, whole of life cycle innovation hub for the Australian and global Agrifood Tech Industry” Bridge Hub takes head-on the challenges facing agriculture and invites the community to contribute.

The Water Challenge asks for water problems to be identified that impact the drought-proofing of Australian agriculture. Examples of such problems may be:

  • Hard water causing blockages in irrigation lines
  • Nutrient run-off affecting water quality
  • Cost effectiveness of treating waste-water
  • Water inefficiency in food production
  • Salinity

In identifying these problems Bridge Hub asks for four questions to be considered:

  1. How can the Australian agrisystem use less water and increase productivity and profitability?
  2. How can we ensure the quality of water optimises the outcomes for the agrisystem and the environment?
  3. How can we turn arid agricultural areas into vibrant, sustainable and productive regions?
  4. How can different sectors outside the agrisystem align to optimise water usage?

Submission of problems to Bridge Hub forms the initial part of the challenge and gives entrants the chance to win one of four $1000 prizes.

The second part of the Water Challenge is about finding solutions and here’s where the big money can be made with up to $150,000 available for trials to test the solutions.

Submissions for the 2020 Water Challenge closed on 15th March, putting it out of reach of the 2020 Archies, but just imagine what can be achieved when students become involved with identifying problems and investigating solutions in similar real-world examples.

by Action4Agriculture

Expressions of Interest open for new look Archibull Prize

News Flash - New model TAP

After a decade of connecting students and teachers to agriculture the acclaimed Archibull Prize will undergo a metamorphosis in 2020 as it evolves to help young people and agriculture meet the complex challenges of the 21st century.

In collaboration with Kris Beazley – Principal, Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education, Richmond Agricultural College, and Lorraine Chaffer from Geography Teachers Association of NSW/ACT the new vision will see the development of deep and lasting communities of practice between primary, secondary and tertiary education institutions, business and government.

The Archibull Prize:

Using creativity to inspire and foster connections and conversations                             between farmers and the community

a New ArchibullPrizeLogo

The new model sees secondary schools tasked with identifying a local agricultural area of investigation and exploring its challenges and opportunities. The students will be assigned a Young Farming Champion and encouraged to identify tertiary, business and government organisations with whom they can partner in their quest to take ownership of the challenge and share their findings and recommendations.

Secondary schools will also be encouraged to build a partnership with their feeder primary schools for the Kreative Koalas – Design a Bright Future Challenge with the opportunity for the secondary school to offer student mentoring, facilitation and specialist support.

Kreative Koalas:

Using creativity to connect and inspire young people and the community to work together to act on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals on a local level

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Based on the concept of ‘communities of practice’ these partnered learning opportunities between primary, secondary and tertiary institutions will enhance the transition of students through their education journey and provide post-school opportunities through other partnerships with industry and government.

The new model is tailored to support schools to encourage teacher and student collaboration using cross curricula learning.  In addition, it will incorporate the development of intergenerational knowledge and skills transfer while continuing to be an exemplary example of student-driven project-based learning.

Extra support will be available for students in rural and regional NSW through our new partnership with the STEM Industry School program

The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas provide young people with future focused learning linked to real world issues at both a society and agricultural industry level and fosters the top four skills 21st century employers want: collaborative team players, creative thinking, critical analysis and problem solving and influential communication.

Picture You in Agriculture will be piloting the new model in 2020 in schools in NSW and QLD working with 12 secondary schools who will partner with a total of 20 primary schools.

What teachers are saying about the program

Learn more about The Archibull Prize here

Learn more about Kreative Koalas here 

For further information email the program manager Lynne Strong 

 

by Action4Agriculture

ARCHIES ATTEND CHEESE AND DAIRY AWARDS NIGHT

Our Archies are showstoppers and they take any chance they get to amplify the voices of young people in agriculture.

So you can imagine they jumped at the chance to have a night and mix with the champions of great cheese and dairy

The Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion Archies from the 2019 Archibull Prizewere special guests at the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW (RAS) Cheese and Dairy Awards night held at the Sydney Showgrounds on February 24.

“Being an agricultural based event, I sought to make sure this aspect was not lost in the glitz and glamour of the final theming on the night,” RAS Coordinator for Dairy Produce and Fine Food Chloe Conder says. “I wanted to celebrate the winning products of the 2020 Sydney Royal Cheese and Dairy Produce Show, but also pay tribute to where these products originate and how they came to be available for consumers to purchase. I selected the colourful wool cow to fit in with my “forest” theme of the night, and the dairy farm cow for obvious reasons being the Cheese & Dairy Show!”

Winning the coveted title of Champion Cheese of Show was Berrys Creek Gourmet Cheese’s Riverine Blue. Berrys Creek Gourmet Cheese has been a multiple recipient of this award over the last decade, proving they understand the palette of their consumers.

“Winning the Sydney Royal Champion Cheese is a great honour and proves to us we are doing something right,” owner and cheesemaker Barry Charlton says. “We have such a dedicated staff, great quality milk and to win this award also helps us to keep growing as a business. It’s quite overwhelming but at the end of the day it really does come down to our wonderful staff.”

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Cheese and dairy competitions have been an important part of the RAS for over 150 years, celebrating products including cheese, milk, butter, dairy dessert, gelato and ice cream created from bovine milk as well as sheep, goat, camel and buffalo milk. This year the prestigious competition attracted 799 entries with 117 awarded gold medals. 180 people attended the presentation night.

“The cows were placed on either side of the entry inside the venue, so were on display for all attendees to see as they entered the event,” Chloe says. “They were very well received on the night, with many attendees taking the time to inspect the intricate work and design with some even posing for photos.”

See the full list of cheese and dairy winners here, and add them to your shopping list – you won’t be disappointed.

by Action4Agriculture

Young Farming Champion Jessica Fearnley is using her communication skills to kickstart her leadership journey

At Picture You in Agriculture we design our learning and development programs to support Young Farming Champions on their emerging leadership journey. We partner with their workplaces to equip, empower, position and mentor them.

Jessica Fearnley

Young Farming Champion Jessica Fearnley who works in horticulture as a development officer with the NSW Department of Primary Industries 

In this edition of our Lessons Learnt series we look at how the power of this model has enabled Jessica Fearnley to hone communication skills learnt in the first year of the Cultivate – Growing Young Leaders program by sharing her EvokeAg experience on the NSW DPI twitter account.

Jessica who works in horticulture as a development officer, joined the Young Farming Champions program in 2019, sponsored by her employer NSW Department of Primary Industries.

“Horticulture is one of highest value industries in the agricultural sector and people interact with it every day. There is a story to be told about the people and the places behind the horticultural industry and the people who consume Australia’s diverse array of fruit and vegetables in terms of how the food is grown, produced and how it ends up on supermarket shelves. I wanted to continue my career development by telling these stories and the Young Farming Champions Program seemed to offer the best way of doing this.” Jessica Fearnley

Through the Cultivate – Growing Young Leaders program Jessica learnt skills in media and communication.

“My presentation skills improved dramatically after the workshop and I now apply this in my day to day work. I am required to present at field days and conferences and I now know I can get up and entertain people, whilst delivering my message and ensuring it resonates.” Jessica Fearnley

The workshops also taught her the importance of delivering messages simply and this skill become particularly relevant when Jessica was selected by the Centre for Entrepreneurial Agri-Technology (CEAT) as one of six emerging leaders to attend the 2020 EvokeAg event held in Melbourne in February, and her employer asked her to tweet about the event.

“I was given the very exciting opportunity to take over the NSW DPI twitter account to advocate my experience at the EvokeAg conference. This stretched me outside my comfort zone and although I was nervous I felt honoured my employers trusted and supported me to amplify the voices I found interesting on the day and advocate their message to 8726 followers.”

Jessica Fearnley NSWDPI

“It was a great chance to put into practice the concise communication skills I learnt at the YFC workshops and deliver my messages within 280 characters. As a recent graduate I was elated to have the power for my messages and thoughts to reach so many people. I am very supported by my team around me at DPI and I feel they are equipping me to develop my leadership skills as well as help others through the ability to practise and fine tune what I learnt in the YFC program.”

Picture You in Agriculture knows knowledge itself is not the key to success. Success comes when this knowledge is applied and when young people are given a road map for their leadership journey. When we trust people with autonomy and authority we give them an opportunity to prove themselves. When people are given autonomy over their work they feel connected to a purpose and part of a team that cares for them.  With support from NSW DPI and her new Young Farming Champions family, Jessica is taking the first steps on what we hope will be a long and rewarding journey.

Thanks Jess for sharing your lessons learnt and mega shoutout to our supporting partners empowering young people to solve tomorrows problems today

2019 Partners