Month / May 2021

by Action4Agriculture

Crafting Careers in Agriculture – Meet Kris Beazley Principal of Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education

The world has changed – we are living in a new norm. Today in our Crafting Careers in Agriculture series we are looking at how our education system is adapting to support our young people to be resilient and thrive in the new norm.

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Taking a new approach to learning by partnering with tertiary institutions, industry and community is the goal of Richmond Agricultural College’s Centre for Excellence in Agricultural Education. In this edition of our Crafting Careers series we talk with Principal Kris Beazley on how the new model works and how it equips young people for a career in the agricultural industry.

 

The recently formed Centre of Excellence is still developing and stretching its educational wings and Kris is excited to be on the frontline of an educational revolution. “The Centre of Excellence is a privileged place to be because we have had the luxury of taking some time to look at our curriculum and ask how we can do it differently, meet syllabus outcomes and ensure authentic, partnered and applied learning opportunities for our students,” she says. “In addition to our stand-alone AgSTEM high school we have the capacity to work with schools from Kindergarten to Year 12 across the state in delivering AgSTEM, sustainability and  careers education, and teacher professional learning.”

The Centre has five pillars of learning: agriculture, STEM, sustainability, Aboriginal Knowledges and career-transition. “Everything we do aligns to those components,” Kris says. “We want our young people to have the confidence and agency to use their capabilities, not only for career purposes but as change agents in community and society. We talk about our young people being social entrepreneurs in everything they do, and that is very important to us.”

Using a transdisciplinary rather than siloed approach to the curriculum the Centre of Excellence is underpinned by partnered learning, which is reflected in its location on Western Sydney University’s (WSU) Hawkesbury campus. But the partnering does not end with tertiary institutions. Instead partnerships with industry and community are actively encouraged. Students work on design thinking projects with members of society as diverse as astronauts, local permaculture community organisations and industry at a local and national level. “In all elements of our programs we have developed partnered learning opportunities for our students beyond the school,” Kris says.

Another aspect of the Centre is its ability to deliver programs into schools across the state, with a focus on agriculture and sustainability, on topics such as protected cropping and food production, the importance of bees and river health. As with the fulltime campus delivery, partnering is critical. “We give young people a real world problem and ask them to be part of a real world solution,” Kris says. “These programs give kids the power to go and stand side by side with people in industry and community.”

Hackathons are another innovative way the Centre educates. During hackathons students and teachers work to develop solutions to real world problems and create new future possibilities. In their recent series of Hackathons with Cotton Australia, Woolmark/Wool Innovation, Adobe and tertiary institutions students explored the future possibilities of sustainable fibre in Australia, considering issues such as the supply chain, circularity, impacts  on rural communities, cities and consumers. The Centre also delivers Hackathons linked to Bees and Pollinators, sustainable fashion, water management and other contemporary issues. A hackathon was a contributing factor in Penrith Valley Learning School’s winning entry in the 2020 Archibull Prize. “They did a full day hackathon with us where all students engaged in deep learning and critical thinking. All students in the group contributed to a collective design solution through developing their ideas, intense feedback, prototyping and testing; we thought about what they valued and gave them the research, communication and critical thinking skills to take their project to reality. Watching a group of young people stand up and have agency and voice was extremely powerful.”

Empowering young people to find and use their voice is the cornerstone to this revolution in agricultural education. With voice and agency students will not only become the changemakers of tomorrow, but will start this journey in their primary and secondary years today. They will be confident to ask the right questions and network with experts in industry, policy making, research and the community. In doing so they are confident consumers, wise decision makers and more importantly have a greater understanding of the opportunities available to them in the Australian Agriculture and STEM industries.  Australian agriculture will be stronger because of it.

 

by Action4Agriculture

Young people as agents of change – Kreative Koalas – Design a Bright Future 2021 program launch

Can you think of any substantial social and environmental movement that didn’t have young, fearless people at the centre?

Picture You in Agriculture was created 15 years ago to provide an opportunity for young people in the agriculture sector to take a holistic approach to building an understanding of, and capacity to address the complex issues (challenges and opportunities) facing the people and the places that provide the food we eat and fibres we use

By bringing together young people from different industries and different disciplines we are able to consider  scientific and academic knowledge, as well as practical, local and personal knowledge. Our programs are action-oriented, continuously evolving in the pursuit of a common purpose and we respect we are all a product of our life experiences, different value systems and social norms.

We soon recognised we couldn’t do it alone and set out to foster long term relationships between government, education, business and the community.

Working with a diverse group of curious and open-minded people, facing complex challenges, generates a supportive culture and we are finding the learning curve is very steep. Identifying opportunities for external knowledge exchange has become a priority.

Working with schools has been such a joy.

Imagine if every single student from infants to primary to secondary school to tertiary education was equipped with practical skill sets to innovate and drive social and environmental change. In a time when students are seeking careers with impact and employers are demanding core skills of problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, and teamwork, it has been highly rewarding to help teachers equip students with the changemaking skills to tackle complex social and environmental issues and future challenges not yet imagined?

Its happening in our schools across the country. Teachers are embedding resilience, creativity, empathy, curiosity, collaboration and systems-thinking into the curriculum and we are very excited to be part of the movement providing schools with access to real people who can help their students investigate real issues and share their big ideas for the bright future we are all dreaming.

Schools are engaging with their boarder communities with the flow-on effect of helping the wider community improve their understanding about our natural and social environments.

At our 2021 Kreative Koalas launch event in the Hunter last week we invited teachers and students from St Brigid’s Catholic Primary School (Kristine Jones and Kristen Raymond) at Raymond Terrace and Medowie Christian School ( Martha Atkins) to share their 2020 Kreative Koalas journey

 

 

We have discovered the Hunter is a unique environment where the Hunter Local Land Services have engaged Jane Lloyd-Jones as their school engagement officer . Jane provides the conduit between the schools and all the environmental services providers which has led to ground-breaking collaborations and great environmental outcomes in the region

Meet Jane

Meet some of the people Jane introduces to regional schools

Kristy Peters from Birdlife 

Meet Jo Hathway who is a Project Officer for Schools Education with NSW Department of Industry based at Tocal College

Meet Pauline Dunne from DPIE who is the Team Leader Community Engagement on Hunter Central Coast

The Hunter is a great example of teamwork truly makes the dream work

#education #schools #socialchangemakers #environmentalchangemakers

by Action4Agriculture

Young Farming Champions Muster May 2021

Headline Act
Often our headline act each month celebrates the awards and recognition our YFCs deservedly receive, but every now and again it is good to go back to basics and listen to the passion that draws them to agriculture in the first place. Marlee Langfield is a shining example of this and has commenced sowing her 2021 crops.

“We have been blessed with a full moisture profile and our canola crops have already received just shy of an inch of steady of rain. The soils are just beautiful this time of year – chocolate brown and full of worms! There are little plants just starting to emerge with these past few warm days.”

Marlee also expresses her love for the land in beautiful photos. Thank you Marlee for reminding us why we love agriculture.

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In The Field
Of course, all of our YFC get out of bed every day to work passionately in agriculture and this passion was recognised on May 10 when The Weekly Times ran an article featuring 15 promising Australian farmers under the age of 30. Making the cut were Emma Ayliffe for her work as an agronomist, Tom Squires for his work with wool and shearing and Peta Bradley for her work with sheep genetics. Congratulations all round.

However passion can be tested and mice are this year’s big challenge. Here’s a round-up of how it is affecting our YFC:
Dan Fox (Marra, Riverina NSW): “We are fairing pretty well although there are mice in paddocks and sheds but nothing like what is happening north of us, and nothing like the 2011 plague. We are still baiting everything we are sowing whilst planting but no damage or losses to stored grain or sowed paddocks.”
Keiley Noble (Narromine, North West NSW):

“We’ve been using a drum of ‘Mouse Off’ a week since mid-January on with our hay stacks. The mice have come back strong mid-May.”

Emma Ayliffe (Lake Cargelligo, Western NSW):

“We have had a few isolated issues with certain paddocks that were sown dry and waiting for rain. Sheds and silos are foul. Defiantly north of us are having bigger issues.”

Dee George (Nyngan, Northern) NSW:

“Hit and miss where we are. They are horrible in patches and then only light on in others. Our family (Nevertire) are baiting everything, and I’ve personally bought at least $1000 worth of domestic bait for around our house and shed. They are starting to damage early crops to the west of Nyngan where I work, and earlier in the year east of us they were damaging cotton (chewing holes in the bolls) which I’d never seen or heard of before.”

Marlee Langfield (Cowra, Central West NSW):

“They are around, especially in sheds, we baited off the back of the seeder with our canola because we are fearful of the damage they may do to new crops. At the moment, touch wood, emerging canola is doing ok.”

It’s not even mouse-free underground.  PYiA journalist Mandy McKeesick mines for opal west of Lightning Ridge:

“Mice are falling down the shaft into our sump (hole below mining level), which has water in it from recent rains. So imagine a black festering, can’t-be-emptied, 44-sized bucket right at your working shaft and that’s what we’ve got. They are also chewing out the ceiling lining in the camp.”

Let’s hope the onset of winter puts the brakes on the mice!

Melissa Henry is focussing not on mice but on the continued success of her sheep. At the recent Hawkesbury Show Melissa’s Quebon Coloured Sheep Stud took out Reserve Champion Black and Coloured Ewe, Champion Black and Coloured Ram, Best Coloured Wether and Supreme Exhibit!

“What a cracker of a season we are having. The pastures, trees and sheep are looking amazing. Many thanks to all of our fleece and sheep buyers from across NSW and VIC for their continued support.”  Melissa says.

Out of the Field
In more show news Becca George took to the microphone at the Dubbo Show to do her first ring announcing of the junior heifer section.

“We needed someone on day 3 to ring announce so I put my hand up to give it a go. I actually really enjoyed it once the nerves wore off!”

Well done for putting your hand up Becca.

Away from the agricultural shows and agricultural conferences and courses are the big thing at the moment. Meg Rice, Dione Howard and Dee George will attend the Young Farmer Business Program conference in Dubbo on May 28, Meg is also participating in GROW with Tocal College, Emma Ayliffe is lined up to speak at the River Reflections Conference for the Murray Darling Basin Authority in June and Bryan Van Wyk presented at the National Seafood Industry Leadership Program recently.

 

ht to Jill Briggs for sharing the pix of Bryan presenting to her Seafood Leaders

Having recently participated in Dr Jenni Metcalfe’s Confident Communicators workshop Bryan relished the opportunity to put Jenni’s mnemonic MESSAGE into action

Bryan has also been appointed as an industry member on the Northern Prawn Fishery Resource Assessment Group (NPFRAG). This decision making group is made up of researchers, government and industry and provides advice to inform legislation on the fishery.

“I am the youngest member on the group and our first two-day meeting was held in Brisbane earlier this month. Big win for me personally and very humbled to be accepted with open arms into this amazing group of people but it has also taken me incredibly far outside my comfort zone. When you’re sitting on an important decision making table surrounded by very intelligent and experienced people and you are asked to voice your thoughts and opinions on behalf of an entire industry it can be extremely daunting. Definitely one of the most challenging experiences for me so far this year.”

Dr Anika Molesworth has joined the Visibility Co team and recently facilitated a workshop for Researchers in International Agricultural Development on climate change leadership and visibility. The workshops had participants from around the globe, including Ghana, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Italy and Australia.

However the biggest shindig during May was Beef Australia held at Rockhampton where Jasmine Whitten teamed up with Greg Mills to share their knowledge of the beef industry with school students as part of the AgForce School to Industry Partnership Program. They spoke with over 500 students, conducted mock cattle auctions, ran a teacher professional development session and attended the agricultural careers evening. Now they’re taking 3 years to gear up for the next Beef Week in 2024. Oh, and Jas and Greg wore the brightest shirts to prompt conversations on mental health!

Also spotted at Beef Week was friend of the YFC Aimee Snowden in her new role with CQUniversity Australia Agri-tech Education and Innovation.

Climate Change YFC Anika Molesworth is moving into the world of film to spread her climate messages. “I’ve had the pleasure of supporting two amazing filmmakers, Sanne – Eefje Suzanne – Kragten and Tim Arnold AV, as they travelled around Australia filming the stories of famers and their mission to overcome climate change. The Positive Alternative film series provides both dramatic yet uplifting stories about how little changes can create a big positive impact on our lives, on climate change and the world at large.

Another film project Anika has been working with (Harsh Climate Harsh Truth) featured in the Canberra Short Film Festival in March. See the previews for both films here

and

Closer to the PYiA core and the YVLT’s Leadership is Language Series 3 continues with a chat with Country to Canberra CEO Han Worsley. Han had both Meg Rice and Dione Howard as interviewers. Catch all the action here

YFC are also connecting with school students with the popular online Paddock to Pen Pals organised by the ever-enthusiastic Sam Wan. Katherine Bain, Emma Turner, Dione Howard, Tayla Field and Chloe Dutschke participated. These are some of the student comments from Chloe’s session:

“I loved asking her questions and hearing her answers. She explained all about her job. I was interested in how she got into being a farmer and completing a Bachelor of Animal Sciences. She wasn’t a farmer growing up but just loved animals. It was great to meet a real farmer. It’s not a job I had ever thought of before!”

And, because they are not busy enough already, our YFC are commencing their training workshops for the year – learning from the best in Josh Farr and Dr Jenni Metcalfe.

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Check out Dr in waiting Francesca Earp, Dr Calum Watt and Dr Jo Newton’s wrap up in this video.

Prime Cuts

Picture You in Agriculture (PYiA) is excited to be working with new partners this year and we welcome the Northern Territory Farmers Association to the fold. NT Farmers have selected Oliva Borden to participate in the 2021 Cultivate – Growing Young Leaders program. When her YFC introduction begins with “a female incarnation of John Williamson’s Mallee Boy crossed with Crocodile Dundee” you know we’re going to have some fun. Welcome to the team Olivia.

 

Emma Ayliffe has been named as a finalist in the 2020/21 Australian Farmer of the Year Awards (Young Farmer category). The winner’s announcement ceremony will take place on 17 June at Parliament House in Canberra and will feature a live ABC Country Hour broadcast. Congratulations Emma, we can’t wait!

Lifetime Achievements

Anika Molesworth is in the final stage of turning her dream of writing a book into reality. The manuscript is currently with her publisher getting a final nip-and-tuck before going to print.

“The book will hit bookshelves at the end of August, and I am so excited to share this story with the world!”

by Action4Agriculture

Leadership is Language – Han Worsley CEO of Country to Canberra talks with Meg Rice and Dione Howard

In this episode of Leadership is Language CEO of Country to Canberra Han Worsley shares her tips for volunteer recruitment and engagement with Country to Canberra board member and YFC Meg Rice, and YVLT Chair Dione Howard.

 

Key Messages

  • Volunteering is about seeing and capturing potential within your network
  • Look for diversity in your team to reflect the diversity of your community
  • Extend and invest in your volunteers; create leadership pipelines
  • Choose volunteers motivated and aligned with your vision

 “Volunteers take on a position in addition to all the wonderful things that they do. The nature of the people who apply for these positions is that they are go-getters; they do have multiple things on their plate already and they are really committed to making a change in their community. We need to be conscious that they are also the busiest people with the least time.”

 

About Han

Han Worsley is a passionate educator, gender equality advocate, and public speaker.

Winning Country to Canberra’s inaugural Leadership Competition in 2014 began a dedication to young rural women and non-binary people, to recognise the value of rural communities and people, and create meaningful change across Australia. They have developed and helped deliver leadership and empowerment workshops to over 3,500 students in 80 rural Australian communities as part of the C2C Project Empower Program, and spoken passionately at events across Australia for organisations such as the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation, the Australian Medical Students Association, the Australian National University, and the YWCA.

 

A current STEM Primary Education student at the University of Canberra, Han is also committed to improving the quality and accessibility of education across Australia. Han plans to return to rural Australia upon completion of university.

 

Connect with Han:

LinkedIn  

Twitter:

About Meg

Meg Rice is a Graduate Policy Officer at the Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources in Canberra. She is also a passionate Young Farming Champion and credits the program with giving her the skills to have insightful conversations with current and future leaders within the agricultural industry. Meg further employs these skills as the Innovation Hub Representative for the PYiA Youth Voices Leadership Team.

Connect with Meg

LinkedIn 

Twitter 

About Dione

Dione is a District Veterinarian with Riverina Local Land Services based in Wagga Wagga, NSW. She has been an active member of the Youth Voices Leadership Team (YVLT) since its inception in 2018; holding the position of Mentor Leader and Innovation Leader. 2021 has seen Dione step into the role of YVLT Chair.

Dione’s seat on the YVLT Executive and the Picture You in Agriculture Board is enhanced by her completion of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) Company Directors Course, which she undertook in conjunction with her role as Wool Producer’s Youth Ambassador in 2019.

Dione was recently awarded 2021 RAS Rural Achiever.

Connect with Dione

LinkedIn

Twitter 

Want to know more?

 Canberra to Country (C2C) supports young rural women and non-binary people to reach their leadership potential. Learn more about their program and competitions here and learn about their team member job titles here. C2C embodies the phrase “be the image you want the world to see.”

by Action4Agriculture

Announcing The Archibull Prize 2020 winners

   

In a year when the world was thrown into disarray and the notion of work and education tipped on its head, Picture You in Agriculture (PYiA) is thrilled to announce that not only did the 2020 Archibull Prize go ahead in a modified format, but that all students and teachers rose to the occasion and excelled under challenging conditions.

The Archibull Prize is an internationally recognised program in secondary schools designed to engage students with agriculture and sustainability by challenging them to research an area of food and fibre production and to present their findings in multi-media and artistically on a life-sized fibreglass cow.

 

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The 2020 Grand Champion Archibull was awarded to Penrith Valley Learning Centre, (PVLC) for their exceptional Archie that incorporated a working hydroponic system.

PVLC is an SSP school that provides specialist and intensive support in a dedicated setting for students with moderate to high learning and support needs.

“Penrith Valley has 49 students who fall into a range of behavioural and emotionally disturbed categories so not only did they get artist’s therapy from painting but they also got practical knowledge on a hydroponic system. We have kids who don’t get along but would tolerate each other just to get access to the Archie, which was an amazing result. We wanted the Archie to be not just a beautiful object but to have a functional purpose for our kids and leave a permanent reminder in the school. We now have a hydroponic system that can grow life and sustain future generations. It was a lovely legacy for our senior kids to create something they knew would transfer to the juniors.” Ceramics and Visual Arts teacher Tara Wagner says

The Archibull Prize judge Wendy Taylor, from Red Blue Architecture, concurs with Tara’s comments.

“I look for intelligent design with layers of meaning.  Penrith’s entry is brilliant, intelligent, incredibly beautiful, engaging and really well done. It is a functional piece; a piece with purpose,” she says.

Other award winners in the 2020 Archibull Prize were:

Chevalier College in the Southern Highlands who won the Carmel Mills Memorial Award for Learning with Impact.

“The students and I thoroughly enjoyed the Archibull experience. As a teacher I found it a very valuable learning experience that enabled us to do project based learning and got the students to learn/ think in other ways in the complex COVID environment. I was inspired by the fact that the students investigative and critical thinking skills were very much extended by the nature of the task, something they weren’t used to in a conventional classroom. The students gained so much new knowledge about complex agricultural issues, without realising they were learning whilst being creative. A fabulous experience and result from an agriculture teacher’s perspective.”  Verity Gett Agriculture teacher

Innisfail State College in Queensland has won the Allan Eagle Memorial Award for Community Engagement

Archibull Prize lead teachers, Adrienne Shaw and Janet Lane, are very proud of what their students have achieved and are excited by partnerships they have built with their local council, industry and business.

“I am confident we have built sustainable partnerships beyond the school, benefiting our students by making real life authentic links with people working in the agriculture sector. A local agronomy business has invited students to participate in local field trials.  Cassowary Coast Council is providing ongoing support to open students’ eyes to the diversity of regional agricultural careers on offer, recently funding an excursion for year 12 students to visit the Jungle Creek Aquaculture facility ” Janet Lane says

Leonay Public School and Nepean Creative and Performing Arts High School won the Partnered Learning Award for collaboration between primary and secondary schools.

PYiA director Lynne Strong was full of praise for the participating schools.

“Because of the pandemic schools couldn’t go on excursions, host Young Farming Champions or local experts and they found alternative ways of exploring agriculture and this has led to an increased connection with their communities. For example the students at Chevalier, who are surrounded by dairy cows, participated in Cows Create Careers and University of New England’s Voyager Discovery program “Soil Your Undies” to get diverse perspectives.

This new respect for local agricultural industries has led to the school building a close relationship with a local dairy farmer and are embedding a dairy farm case-study in the Year Ten curriculum. It’s been a wonderful outcome for the local region. It was an extraordinary complex year and I salute all participants – there is no more important role than investing in the future of our young people and opening their eyes to the diversity of ways you have can a career that has real world impact in the agriculture sector.”

Students from Chevalier share their investigations into Regenerative Agriculture practices and fake news

Successful schools for the 2021 program have now been announced and expressions of interest for the 2022 Archibull Prize will shortly be open on the website.

Contact Lynne Strong, Picture You in Agriculture National Program Director, by email at lynnestrong@pyia.com.au for more information.