Month / June 2021

by Action4Agriculture

Young Farming Champions Muster June 2021

Emma Ayliffe 2020/2021 Australian Young Farmer of the Year with her partner Craig Newham

Headline Act

Does it get any better than this? Our very own Emma Ayliffe has been announced as the 2021 Young Farmer of the Year!! Read all about it here.

One of the reasons Em won this prestigious award is that she is not afraid to advocate for agriculture on every stage. As an example, this month she also spoke with educators at a Cotton Australia Teach the Teacher event and waded into the fray as a speaker at the River Reflections conference for the Murray Darling Basin Authority.

We are so very excited for, and proud of, you Em – congratulations.

Listen to Emma on The Country Hour here

 

In The Field

Research has been the key word for our YFC in the field this month. Tegan Nock is exploring the ways fungi may be able to help with climate change (read about this exciting work in this ABC report) while Veronika Vicic, a PhD candidate at Charles Sturt University, is asking your opinion on euthanasia of non-replacement male calves and producer wellbeing in Australian dairy systems. Want to contribute? Complete her online survey here.

Veronika’s research work is one of the reasons she was awarded her YFC scholarship, sponsored by Corteva. She, and fellow recipients Emily May, Steph Tabone and Connie Mort, were recently featured in Rural Business magazine. See the Corteva write-up here.

Steph and Connie put their newly acquired YFC skills to the test at a Corteva birthday breakfast recently where they both spoke. It’s a great example of partners allowing our YFC to practice in safe places; just as the Riverina LLS does for Dylan Male. Read more here. Steph has also been attending trade days speaking with farmers and was part of The GreenCollar Think Tank, discussing ideas for dealing with climate change, environmental markets, and energy efficiency. What a month Steph! But wait – there’s more ……

Steph and Emily attended a field trial walk through at Corteva’s Breeza research station on June 2, which was attended by a diverse range of agronomists from across NSW and QLD. Here are the girls in action.

Emily continues to thrive in her position of graduate agronomist with Elders, having almost completed her first 6-month rotation in Forbes. In August she will transfer to Griffith where she will focus on horticultural production.

“I am super keen to begin the second transfer because not many places within the country offer such a range of cropping systems in as geographically close an area as that around Griffith.”

 

Out of the Field

While research and trade networking were the buzz words in the field, out of the field it was all about conferences and awards and spreading the YFC love.

Meg Rice, Adele Smith, Dione Howard, Dee George and Martin Murray attended the second annual Young Farmer Business Conference in Dubbo on May 28 where their takeaways were the importance of networking, thinking outside the box for raising capital, and not being afraid to take the first step and ask the important questions. Thanks for sharing Champs.

Young Farming Champions Dione Howard, Meg Rice and Adele Smith 

Bryan Van Wyk was on the other side of the conference table when he presented to QLD Marine Teachers to promote the stewardship of the ocean through education and collaboration. Watch a snap-shot of his presentation here or view his informative slides here.

Dylan Male shared his YFC experiences with the CWA Vic Virtual Branch and gave insights into how kangaroo grass can be used for food. Wouldn’t it have been amazing to hear both of these talks!

Tayla Field, too, was presenting when she spoke in front of 1000 people at the 2021 Hort Connections Gala Dinner. Watch her glamming it up in pink here. Tayla was also part of our awards round-up this month when she was nominated for the Boomaroo Nurseries Women in Horticulture Award at the same conference.

Olivia Borden was awarded the Ausindustry Young Farmers Award for Business Excellence and Innovation at the Food Futures Conference on the 19th of May. The award recognises and promotes innovative new business practices and raises the importance of value adding by farmers, potentially via traceability systems, logistics improvements or promotional campaigns in the Northern Territory. Congrats Olivia.

And Emma Ayliffe had to share the limelight this month when both she and James Kanaley were recognised as finalists in the Australian Cotton Industry Awards. Both were nominated for the ADAMA Chris Lehmann Trust Young Cotton Achiever. Good luck team.

Sharing the love this month was Tim Eyes who spoke about his experiences with the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation’s 2020 TRAIL program. Also sharing the love were Katherine Bain, Jo Newton, Dylan Male and Nicole McDonald who dined (pre-lockdown) in Melbourne in May. They are all on notice for not providing a photo for the Muster but are forgiven because it was this event that facilitated Dylan speaking with the CWA!

Prime Cuts

Prime Cuts celebrates our YFC as they are recognised for their work, kick their goals and give back to our community.

Recognition came this month when The Land newspaper ran a feature on upcoming farmers under 35 – the ones to watch – and several of our YFC featured: Emma Turner, Jess Fearnley, Tim Eyes and Martin Murray.

Kicking her goals was Jo Newton who was accepted into the Australian Rural Leadership Program to be held in the Kimberley in July.

“Participating in this course has been a goal of mine for quite some time. More than 5 years after I first applied, 3 applications and 2 interviews later I’ve achieved a long-held goal. Every year I didn’t get in I went away, debriefed with my mentors, sought feedback and worked out what I would do differently next time. Persistence pays off. To all of you brave & courageous individuals who put yourselves forward for awards and scholarships, if at first you don’t succeed, please regroup, reassess and try again!”

We sincerely hope the latest COVID restrictions don’t impact your Kimberley journey Jo.

 

And perhaps the greatest achievement an organisation such as Picture You in Agriculture, who trains the next agricultural leaders, can have is for one of its own to return to run workshops for the next generation. So, it gives us a great thrill to announce that Anika Molesworth will be running a “personal brand” workshop, especially for YFC. Anika will share her secrets on personal branding – why it is important, how it can help your career and how you can use it to influence how people think and act. “When the people we train start running the workshops my heart sings,” says Lynne Strong. Stay tuned for more details.

Lifetime Achievements

“31.5.21 The Flinders Ranges will always hold a special place in my heart, as will Joe Smart who surprised me with a beautiful ring and asked me to marry him 💍❤”

We can only assume you said yes Chloe Dutschke!

We believe leaders are made not born – Our Young Farming Champions are products of their environments, of the people surrounding them, nurturing them, and INVESTING IN THEM.

Thanks you to our supporting partners for investing in future

by Action4Agriculture

Careers and Pathways to a job in agriculture – a personal approach to reaching hearts and minds

One of the guiding principles of Picture You in Agriculture (PYiA) is to introduce students to the world of work and encourage the uptake of agricultural careers by presenting the industry as an exciting option for a career with purpose.

Together with our supporting partners PYiA delivers the in-school programs Kreative Koalas ( primary students) and The Archibull Prize (secondary students) to ensure career development begins on the first day of school.

This life-long learning journey is further strengthened by the engagement of Young Farming Champions, a cohort of young agricultural professionals who relate easily to students.

The programs:

  • Align with the National Career Education Strategy using bottom-up tried and tested innovative localised approaches targeting wants and needs of teachers, students, parents and carers.
  • Support partnerships to thrive between schools, education and training providers, employers, parents and carers, and the broader community.
  • Ensure students have transferable skills that equip them for the future of work.

Our surveys and research over the last decade have proven this to be a highly effective model of keeping agriculture careers front of mind, improving agricultural career outcomes, creating educational pathways and catering for the needs of teachers and students and the future workforce and employers.

Kreative Koalas is an action learning program for primary school students that introduces them to the world of work through connection to the United Nations Sustainability Development Goals. Kreative Koalas embeds sustainability across multiple Key Learning Areas of the school curriculum and encourages students to develop external collaborations with professionals within their community; expanding their understanding of the world of work as they learn how people in different jobs contribute to a sustainable future.

We were lucky to have the opportunity to have a Zoom meeting with farmer and environmentalist Karin Stark, whose family uses renewable energy (solar) to power their cotton and wheat farm. This was an extremely valuable experience, as students were able to develop their knowledge and understanding of how renewable energy can be used in different communities for different purposes.

The Archibull Prize then consolidates this introduction by showing students career pathways to sustainability though the lens of agriculture and asking them to investigate innovative approaches to problem solving in an industry that requires multi-disciplinary knowledge and skills. Throughout The Archibull Prize students develop the transferable 21st century skills that underpin employability for the future.

“Picture You in Agriculture’s school-based programs support the establishment of school-industry partnerships, connecting young people with the world of work in agriculture. Delivered to students K-12, these programs were adapted by teachers to meet the developmental needs of students and used to integrate a range of subject interests and skills into project-based learning activities. Teachers were empowered to collaborate with local community groups, employers, and organisations which meant the program activities provide effective career guidance in ways that are meaningful for students. It is promising, that in a year where teachers reported significant challenges with student’s engagement at school due to COVID-19 restrictions, that both The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas programs successfully contributed to the development of participants 21st century skills and increased interest in careers in agriculture.” Dr Nicole McDonald PhD in Vocational Psychology of Agriculture, BSci. (Hons.) Psychology Program Evaluation

Underpinning the success of both Kreative Koalas and The Archibull Prize are the Young Farming Champions (YFC). Due to their age (often not much older than the students they connect with) YFC become role models. They are memorable, credible, passionate about their industries and they disrupt  stereotypical images of what a farmer is.

See how 2020/2021 Australian Young Farmer of the Year, Emma Ayliffe is sharing her journey to be a farmer with students here

Students learning from a YFC realise careers in agriculture can be high-level, STEM-based worlds of opportunity.

Value adding to the one-off engagement events like careers fairs offered by industry, YFC go into schools as part of a 12-week immersion process providing multiple touch points for learning and two way conversations. For these 12 weeks the YFC are basically on speed-dial for teachers and students.

YFC are trained by PYiA to be advocates for agriculture and positive role models for younger generations. Through their training they are given opportunities to practice in safe environments to become confident communicators and trusted voices in the communities in which they work and live. Horizontal development comes from online and in-person workshops where they build their skills and knowledge. Vertical development comes from the multiple opportunities to stretch themselves and interact with thought-leaders and strategists from around the world.

Our YFC represent a range of industries and professions in agriculture.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

They firstly learn to lead themselves then, as alumni, they learn to lead others while being supported by mentors from their sponsor organisations or workplace and through the YFC alumni buddy system. This produces young people who understand the importance of listening to understand and are confident sharing their story with students and opening students (teachers, parents and influencers) minds to changing images and perceptions about careers. Our research shows that YFC as role models are the key to opening the door.

Through Kreative Koalas, The Archibull Prize and Young Farming Champions, PYiA is providing leadership and career development action learning opportunities for young people from Prep to early 30s; showcasing the world of work in agriculture and sustainability and providing pathways and skills for the workforce of tomorrow.

A little bit of trivia to show its working

  • Nationally, the most popular broad field of education (in terms of the number of applications) in 2020 was Health (74,780 applicants or 26.0 per cent of all applicants). This was followed by Society and Culture (69,036 applicants or 24.0 per cent) and Management and Commerce (32,516 applicants or 11.3 per cent).
  • Fields of education that recorded strongest growth in applications in 2020 were Agriculture, Environmental and Related Studies (10.8 per cent), followed by Information Technology (9.8 per cent), Natural and Physical Sciences (3.1 per cent), Society and Culture (2.3 per cent), Education (2.0 per cent), Health (1.7 per cent), Engineering and Related Technologies (1.1 per cent) and Architecture and Building (0.7 per cent Source

At PYiA we believe leaders are made. They are products of their environments, of the people surrounding them, nurturing them, and INVESTING IN THEM.

We thank our supporting partners for investing in our Young Farming Champions

We thank our supporting partners for investing in the wellbeing of young Australians by ensuring students:

  • have the skills and capabilities to meet the challenges of the rapidly changing world of work.
  • have access to high-quality career education, and
  • make more informed career and pathway decisions to prepare them for life beyond school.

#agriculture #SDGs #careersinstem #careerswithpurpose #careersinagriculture #youthinag

 

 

 

 

by Action4Agriculture

Young Farming Champion Emma Ayliffe is 2021 Australian Young Farmer of the Year

Agronomist, business owner and Young Farming Champion Emma Ayliffe has been named the Young Farmer of the Year in the 2020/2021 Kondinin Group and ABC Rural Australian Farmer of the Year Awards, at a ceremony at Parliament House in Canberra on June 17.

Emma Ayliffe and her partner Craig Newham

The prestigious awards recognise outstanding achievements in Australian agriculture and Emma is a worthy winner of her category.

Emma Ayliffe is a trailblazer; an innovative young woman on a mission to lead Australian agriculture and rural communities into a bright, resilient and profitable future. At 29 she is a successful business owner, a nationally recognised agronomist, a fledgling farm owner, an in-demand public speaker and a role model to a cohort of young people looking to follow her into this future with optimism and confidence.

What sets Emma apart as a young farmer is her desire to share agricultural information both behind and beyond the farm gate. With financial and sweat equity in her own piece of land, Emma trials innovative ideas and shares these with her agronomy clients and wider farming community. She shares her agricultural story with all Australians.

“It is great to be able to show young people, and young women, that you can really be a big part of the agricultural industry,” Ms Ayliffe said. “My goal with this award is to use it to keep building the profiles and opportunities for young people in ag and, personally, to take on more leadership within the industry to ensure an inclusive, cohesive and prosperous future.”

Watch Emma being interviewed by Warwick Long for The Country Hour

 

Emma was nominated for the awards by Lynne Strong from Picture You in Agriculture, who also nominated the winner of 2020/2021 Rural Consultant of the Year award Dr Neil Moss.

Dr Moss is a respected veterinarian and director of agricultural consultancy Scibus who has been supporting Australian agriculture for over 25 years.

Dr Neil Moss with Karen Deane (L) and Dan Dixon (R) from Corteva AgriScience and Sally Murfet (Rural Consultant of the Year in 2019) 

Neil’s skills and experience came to the fore in 2020 when was appointed as the Dairy Liaison Officer to head up the crisis response to the dairy industry in South East NSW following the devastating bushfires. This appointment required Neil to draw both on his deep knowledge of dairy farming as well as his compassion and empathy of the community. At the same time, Neil was able to draw on his deep connections and respect across the greater industry to pull together a cohesive and effective response.

“It is a deeply humbling honour to win this award and it is an accolade I would never have expected or sought.” Dr Moss said. “I am thrilled that the work I have done with farmers and the dairy and beef industry over time has been so appreciated and well received. I am looking forward to further building the “extension bridge” between research and implementation and continuing to provide practical, integrated and evidence-based advice to farmers and the broader livestock industry. I will use the award to continue to strive for excellence in client care and empowerment and to promote collaboration in effective service-delivery to produce best outcomes for dairy and beef business regardless of their scale, level of production intensity or stage in their journey of growth and development. I would like to thank the Kondinin Group, ABC Rural, Corteva and most importantly, the many farmers and other industry professionals and mentors whom I have had had the pleasure to learn from and work with over the years.”

Watch Neil being interviewed by ABC journalist Kath Sullivan

Both Emma and Neil participated in a leadership development workshop and networking event as part of their awards.

Congratulations Neil and Emma. Picture You in Agriculture is proud to be working with the best humans

Watch Emma being interviewed by ABC journalist Kath Sullivan

Listen to Neil talk to David Claughton on the Country Hour here

 

 

 

 

by Action4Agriculture

Careers in Agriculture – Opening the door to new worlds with Young Farming Champions

“In a world full of noise it can be overwhelming for school students to decide on a career and it’s hard to be what you can’t see.”  

With research showing young people moving from primary school to secondary school have closed their minds to 70% of the careers available agriculture is excited that Picture You in Agriculture has found a successful tried and tested model to open young people eyes to the exciting and diverse world of work in agriculture.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Every school participating in The Archibull Prize competition is partnered with a Young Farming Champion (YFC) to assist them in their agricultural learning journeys. But did you know a YFC represents more than a friendly face in your classroom? A YFC can open the door to brand new worlds for your students and introduce them to the diversity of knowledge and careers available that align with the issues most important to them. A YFC can show your students careers within agriculture that have social and environmental purpose.

A recent Picture You in Agriculture survey has shown the following issues are what young people care about and want to learn how they can play a role in addressing

Further research shows how YFC can successfully engage with teachers and students to change agricultural preconceptions.

Our YFC champion these issues every day in their jobs within agriculture and fishing; YFC such as Tayla Field and Bryan Van Wyk.

Read Tayla’s case study here 

Tayla is a business manager for salad producer One Harvest and knows the importance of food security and the impact of consumer expectations in the provision of safe and nutritious food, and of good food produced in an environmentally sustainable manner. At the 2021 Hort Connections Gala dinner Tayla spoke of these issues and you can watch the video here.

From the table above Tayla cites “Knowing what food is good for you” and “Making less waste” as issues she can directly address within her job.

“We have been seeing consumers becoming more aware of their health during COVID, with freshness, taste, provenance and nutritional value being key purchasing drivers. Luckily, the fresh produce industry has a range of options from fresh fruit and vegetables to nuts and herbs, that can form a part of a healthy diet for shoppers of all ages. Our business uses plastic to deliver our products to the consumer in a safe way, while maintaining the integrity and freshness of the raw material, but we are working on a number of operational projects to reduce plastic throughout our supply chain. This includes the introduction of new ways of working and new machinery to help facilitate these changes. I am loving being able to see these projects come to life and the business focusing on, and actively investing in, improving our environmental footprint,” Tayla says.

Tayla works with the vegetable farms of Australia’s east coast and further north, on the seas out from Cairns and Karumba, Bryan Van Wyk is managing the prawn trawler fleet for Austral Fisheries. Life in the oceans has been identified as one of the top issues of interest to secondary students and Bryan takes this part of his job incredibly seriously. He recently zoomed in to speak with QLD Marine teachers.

Bryan Van Wyk’s office 

“Having enough food to feed everyone” and “Life in the oceans” are high on our list of priorities so its pretty cool to see that its equally as high on young people’s minds. With nearly 20% of the world’s animal protein coming from seafood, commercial fishing is an important way of feeding the world. However, if poorly managed or unregulated, it can result in widespread ecosystem declines. Australia is blessed with some of the healthiest oceans and best fisheries management practices in the world. The Northern Prawn Fishery is Australia’s largest and most valuable prawn fishery and is renowned for its robust ecosystem-based management and bycatch reduction work. With 11 vessels in this fishery, Austral Fisheries work closely with scientists, fisheries managers and industry to ensure the on-going health and sustainability of the oceans in Northern Australia,” Bryan says.

In a world full of noise it can be overwhelming for school students to decide on a career and, like us all, it’s hard to be what you can’t see. Young Farming Champions are role models for students; they are memorable, relatable, credible, passionate about their industries and they are disrupting the stereotypical images of what a farmer is. How many students would think as a ‘farmer’ they could be dressed in a stunning pink dress addressing a national conference, or working on fishing boats while raising the profile of Patagonian toothfish? There are new worlds to discover every day in agriculture and a YFC can be your personal, professional guide.

by Action4Agriculture

Practicing in safe places – why it is important for supporting partners to provide action learning opportunities for Young Farming Champions

Picture You in Agriculture (PYiA) is proud to partner with a range of organisations who support our Young Farming Champions (YFC) through their leadership and career development journeys. Two of these partners are Riverina Local Land Services (RLLS) and Corteva Agriscience, and both have recently shown the power of giving young people the opportunity to practice in safe places.

Riverina Local Land Services sponsors YFC Dylan Male and invited him to present to the Board and to join Board members on property tours. Dylan grew up in the Riverina (Wiradjuri Country) and although now studying in Melbourne he relishes the chance to return home. When general manager Ray Willis asked Dylan to present to the Board he took the opportunity to speak of this connection to the Riverina and how it sparked his interest in agriculture, which has led to a PhD researching the revival of an Aboriginal crop species. Following the Board meeting Dylan joined members for a networking dinner and then an agricultural tour of the Young Region.

“I am excited to not only be embarking on this learning journey [with YFC] but to also be joining such a great family of agricultural leaders motivated to achieve positive change. I look forward to future opportunities provided by RLLS that will continue to empower me on my journey to become a Young Farming Champion,” Dylan says.

Dylan Male with the Riverina Local Land Services Board

Ray, too, appreciates the partnership between PYiA and RLLS and the mentoring his organisation can provide Dylan.

“By providing Dylan with opportunities in our Board room, working alongside our staff and our individual one-on-one sessions, we hope to expose him to real world examples to show him how important building relationships and conveying your message is, no matter your situation. We plan on assisting Dylan build on his confidence, skills and abilities with a broad range of experiences with us,” Ray says.

Each year Corteva Day celebrates the launch of Corteva as an independent pureplay agriculture business and at an event held at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney recently YFC Steph Tabone and Connie Mort were invited to present to the group on their YFC experiences.

“The environment that Connie and I were able to talk within was safe as we knew everyone in the room, but it gave us the opportunity to step out of our comfort zone as we got to speak in front of the group, when normally we would be the ones listening in the crowd,” Steph says.

Rob Kaan presenting at the Corteva Day breakfast 

Following Corteva Day Steph has a range of opportunities coming up including attendance at a Think Tank event hosted by Green Collar and at the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW AgVision event, where she will share Corteva’s agricultural career pathways with year’s 9-12 students. This combined with YFC workshops, the YFC buddy system (where she is partnered with Dr Jo Newton OAM ) and mentoring with ANZ Corteva managing director Rob Kaan means Steph is fast-tracking her road to confident leadership.

“I feel grateful to be involved in the YFC program as it has already led to many positive things for me personally and professionally, and I appreciate the support and safe places to learn and challenge myself.”

Steph Tabone, Lynne Strong and Greg Mitchell at the Corteva Day breakfast 

Connie Mort was also invited by Rob Kaan to share her experiences with the Young Farming Champion program with Corteva team members at the organisation’s second birthday celebrations at the City of Sydney Botanic Gardens

“I really valued the chance to stand up along side Steph and share what we have been doing with PYiA, and also how our values at Corteva align so nicely with what we are aiming to achieve as part of the YFC journey. There was great enthusiasm from our colleagues about how they can support us over the course of the YFC program, and that they can support the industry in which they work through their own involvement with PYiA, which I’m truly excited about.   

I am really looking forward to connecting with my fellow YFCs during the upcoming workshops and face-to-face events, and learning from those that have been a part of the program for many years already. It is encouraging to know that we have this safe space to communicate with our peers on this program when we are faced with challenges and need some feedback. I am enjoying being partnered with YFC alumni buddy Katherine Bain for the first part of my learning journey and looking forward to sharing my story with the Griffith Soroptimist club in July”

Rob Kaan is proud of the mentoring opportunities initiated by his company.

“At Corteva we are fortunate to have established some clear corporate values during the creation of the organization two years ago after our merger process.  People management and talent development is one of our key pillars, supported by a strong sense of promoting diversity and inclusion.  Within this, employee mentoring is a process we provide to employees seeking guidance, support and the opportunity to learn new skills and competencies from peers.  It’s often not a supervisor to employee relationship; mentoring works best when two employees build an open and trusting relationship built on curiosity, sharing experiences and providing guidance in a “safe environment”.   We help facilitate these employee connections and, in the case of young talented employees like Steph and Connie, YFC helps complement our mentoring programs very nicely,” he says.

PYiA’s vision to empower young people to reach their full potential through life-long learning and support is mirrored in organisations such as Riverina Local Land Services and Corteva Agriscience. When partnerships such as these, that invest in our young people, are formed and nurtured we will see agriculture and community thrive.

by Action4Agriculture

Celebrating our Cohort – Meet Dr Jenni Metcalfe

They say it takes a village to raise a child and at Picture You in Agriculture (PYiA) it takes a village to support, mentor, teach and encourage our Young Farming Champions. One of our village “chiefs” is Dr Jenni Metcalfe from Econnect Communication who each year holds a series of workshops to enable our YFC on their leadership and career development journeys.

Recently Jenni conducted an online workshop Designing Compelling Messages including a mnemonic to capture her ideas:

  • Motivated – What is driving you to communicate? What do you want to achieve?

 

  • Empathy – Who do you want to communicate with? Have you tried standing in their shoes?

 

  • Specific – What is the concrete (not abstract) message that you want to convey?

 

  • Simple – Have you considered what your audience could misunderstand?

 

  • Acknowledge uncertainty – How sure are you of your information?

 

  • Game-change – Does your message include a call for change, in attitudes or actions?

 

  • Enable – Have you detailed how people can change?

 

This was immediately taken up and put into practice by YFC Bryan Van Wyk.

“I printed out the mnemonic and have it on my office wall. I have found it very useful to evaluate my presentations before sharing and will also use it to gauge any future articles, videos or reports I compose before publishing,” he says. In fact, Bryan used the mnemonic to test one of his favourite video creations: Born Free, Caught Wild. The Northern Prawn Industry and this was his assessment: “Motivated – yes; Empathy – yes; Specific – kind of, but there’s a lot of information to digest; Simple – relatively; Acknowledge uncertainty – thinks so; Game-changer – the message was to buy Australian and MSC-certified prawns, but it could have been clearer; and Enable – as above.” Great work Bryan.

At the beginning of June Steph Tabone had the opportunity to present to her Corteva colleagues about her YFC experience.

“I shared some insights on [Jenni’s] workshop as I felt that this topic would resonate with my colleagues. We have all been in social situations where we’re asked who we work for, and it can be a challenge knowing how to say you work for an agricultural chemical company because the people we are speaking with may not be as connected to agriculture as we are. I am proud of what we do and am proud to share the great things Corteva is doing, because we really have had a positive impact on the farmers we work with. I shared how these workshops help not only in conversations with adults who have existing perceptions of the industry, but also with the next generation in schools, engaging them in conversations about agriculture and the exciting career opportunities in our sector. I enjoy working for Corteva and I am confident other young people will too. Jenni’s workshop helped me understand how to share my story so it is engaging, relatable and memorable  ” Steph says.

Steph Tabone (left) and Lynne Strong at the Corteva birthday celebrations in the Botanic Gardens on June 1st

Connie Mort joined Steph on the Corteva stage and her take-home message from Jenni’s workshop was the relevance it had not only for her but for long-term YFC.

“We are in these workshops alongside alumni who have been with the program for up to eight years, such as Jo Newton and Anika Molesworth. This gives me confidence that content provided by the YFC program will be continually fresh and evolving, and that it is really all about life-long learning,” she says.

Most of our new YFC will now know Jenni from her workshops but few might know the full impact she has had on Picture You in Agriculture.

Program founder Lynne Strong has the backstory:

“The YFC program was inspired by the 2010 Climate Champions program I participated in. Jenni co-founded the program with Colin Creighton AM and delivered it for four years. The learnings inspired much of her PhD thesis. I was highly impressed by how much confidence and skills competence the program gave to farmer participants and I was committed to having it funded for young people.  Jenni and her partner in mastery, the wonderful Sarah Cole, then ran our first YFC workshop in 2011. Jenni is a world-leading science communicator with the vision to ‘bring science to life’ and we are very grateful to have Jenni as a central part of our team and carry on the legacy of the Climate Champions program”

and as Jenni so succinctly puts

“The YFC is an example of participatory science communication about sustainable agriculture. Like I found in my thesis, Rethinking science communication models in practice, this program works because of the relationships of trust that have grown between young people involved in agriculture (the YFCs), more experienced mentors and trainers, experts in sustainability, and educators.  Developing such relationships of trust takes time and have the power to create a legacy of transformational change.”

Our Young Farming Champions are extraordinary roles models of who you can be in the world of agriculture

Dr Anika Molesworth, Dr Jo Newton, Daniel Fox and Samantha Wan are just a small sample of the impact our Young Farming Champions are having on the world  

by Action4Agriculture

Crafting Careers in Agriculture – Professor Ian Lean shares the cutting edge vision for Hurlstone Agricultural High School

Picture You in Agriculture has a long history of working with Hurlstone Agricultural High School and their extraordinary art department with the school winning The Archibull Prize three times. We are mega excited that the new farm model designed for the school by Professor Ian Lean will see students immerse themselves in agriculture of the future where we get the best outcomes for farmers, consumers and the planet

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

When it comes to the agricultural workforce of the future the role of the high school can never be underestimated and facilities at Hurlstone Agricultural High School (HAHS) are currently being upgraded “to continue its legacy and contribution to agricultural education”.

Student outcomes and learning have been at the centre of decision making. The proposed farm upgrades will create fit for purpose facilities to support the next generation of students learning about contemporary agriculture and STEAM ( science, technology, engineering, art and maths)
To achieve improved agricultural education outcomes, the farm will be upgraded with co-located technology in a centralised farm hub and and the boarding facilities will be upgraded.

The proposed upgrades to the farm and boarding facilities will provide students with:
■ improved educational outcomes in agriculture and STEAM
■ new and upgraded boarding facilities with additional capacity for up to 180 boarders
■ new fit for purpose, modern farm and dairy facilities offering expanded education experiences
■ ease of farm operations and management
■ more opportunities for students to view and interact with livestock
■ collaboration opportunities with the new Centre of Excellence in Agricultural Education, universities and
industry

Source 

In this edition of our Crafting Careers series we talk with Professor Ian Lean, managing director of Scibus, who is the industry consultant working with the school to upgrade their farm.

In the December 2020 HAHS newsletter the school outlined the proposed farm upgrade:

“Hurlstone will benefit from cutting edge agricultural technology in the proposed farm upgrade. A farm hub will be at the core of the upgrade and will co-locate farming enterprises, technology, machinery and housing for livestock. It will also provide improved linkages to learning and boarding spaces. The new central farm hub means students will have access to modern technology, more viewing and animal interaction opportunities, co-located learning space, and greater collaboration opportunities with teaching staff, industry and university partnerships.”

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It sounds like a major undertaking but for Ian the driving factors are reasonably simple.

“We are marrying the concepts of compassion for animals with the science and data of modern agriculture,” he says.

In order to achieve this Ian and the development team must overhaul facilities to provide a farm that is potentially smaller but can sustain the same amount of livestock.

“We are looking at agriculture in an urban environment so there needs to be a deep consideration of the needs of the animals but also an awareness of how we interface the urban with the rural. The objective is to provide environments that would be extremely comfortable and animal friendly and also demonstrate that modern agriculture is precise, quantifiable, compassionate and oriented towards profitability.”

The dairy at Hurlstone has long been its showpiece and it has been central to the redevelopment. Robots will be introduced to aid in data capture and illustrate modern milking methods, showing students the role of this technology. All animal and plant enterprises will be designed to allow replication and research studies with a view to engaging senior students modem agricultural science. Agronomy and soil production systems will also feature.

“We want to retain the opportunity for humans and animals to bond the way they should and combine this with science so that students can understand modern agriculture. These are critical aspects that students need to see in order to formulate ideas about careers in agriculture and we will show them that we can feed the planet, nurture the landscape and look after our animals well,” Ian says.