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.
In partnership with Corteva Agriscience we invited emerging leaders in the agriculture sector to share with us what drives them. We also asked them to tells us if they had a magic wand what would they change in the agriculture sector.
Today we share PhD candidate Veronika Vicic’s story
“As future leaders of agriculture, its is imperative we encourage relationships between agriculture and the wider community by sharing our stories and our commitment to understanding the values of the community and shopping behaviours of consumers
Veronika invites us to:
Find innovative ways to keep the lines of communication open along the agricultural supply chain
Enable others to broaden their agricultural knowledge and encourage individuals to enter our diverse industry will strengthen agriculture
As a young person who grew up in Sydney I only became aware of the exciting opportunities in the agriculture sector at university. University has shown me research and development play a pivotal role in Australian agriculture supporting farmers to produce food and maintain the landscapes we grow it on
Being city born I am also aware that as future leaders of agriculture, it is imperative we encourage relationships between agriculture and the wider community by sharing our stories and our commitment to understanding the values of the community and shopping behaviours of consumers
Consumers in our society are becoming increasingly conscious of animal welfare standards, the quality of their food and where it is being sourced. My first hand experience has shown me consumer views can be distanced from the reality of modern agricultural practices. The diversity of views shared on social and in print media can either expand the urban-rural gap, or minimise it. Bridging the gap is where I believe we should begin.
Working within the industry has given me confidence we strive to maintain some of the world’s highest standards. It has also shown me it is imperative we communicate the efforts behind Australian producer’s work ethic and commitment to the quality products that consumers receive and how the industry maintains this standard by continually shaping business models to suit evolving consumer demands. I see our role is to communicate to our consumer audience in a way that everyone can understand and engage with.
Meat judging in Japan
My research is based within the beef and dairy industries. My team’s focus is to optimise supply chains for non-replacement calves within the dairy industry. Producers are committed to giving their animals the best whole of life experience and my team supports them with the latest research to help them make the best decisions for their animals and their enterprises. When starting this project I could instantly see that the pathways of communication from producers to consumers were often lost along the supply chain and with the increasing consumer interest in supply chain transparency, this was the initial gap my team and I had to address.
Growing calves in Koroit
The big question we asked was how do we engage with the community so they can identify biases and agendas in media, are able to distinguish fact from fiction and be informed consumers?
As a city kid exposed the world of agriculture at university I am passionate about sharing my story and encouraging other young people to follow my journey to a rewarding career in agriculture. Through my research I want to be able to support farmers to make the best decisions for their animals and their business and help them share their stories to encourage others to effectively navigate the complex and nuanced modern supply chain landscape.
Researchers from CSU’s Graham Centre have put Holstein cattle meat to the taste test, a breed normally reserved only for dairy. News Riverina (Internet), 22 September 2017 www.facebook.com/watch/WinNewsRiverina
Representing the Australian dairy industry Queensland’s Beaudesert State High School has been named Grand Champion Archibull in the 2019 Archibull Prize, edging out previous winner Hurlstone Agricultural High School from New South Wales.
Eighteen secondary schools across New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria took part in the annual competition held by Picture You in Agriculture (PYiA) designed to connect students with agriculture and give farmers a face and voice. The schools are joined by Young Farming Champions as they research their nominated agricultural industry and present their findings in blogs, infographics and multi-media, however the highlight is the creation of an interpretative artwork on a life-sized fibreglass cow, known as the Archie.
Students from Beaudesert State High School celebrate tbeir win with Costa Georgiadis
“We have come to expect quirky and imaginative Archies from Beaudesert and this year was no exception incorporating real bovine bones, braille, a cut-out Herringbone dairy and a robotic milking arm. But more than that Beaudesert has embraced their local dairy community and taken them on their Archibull journey.”
Thanks to a partnership with Subtropical Dairy, Dairy Fields Cooperative and Dover and Son students at Beaudesert delved deep into the challenges and opportunities facing dairy in Australia to create their Archie named Hope. They explored drought, mental health of farmers and a tightening retail market and posed the question: How much do we value our Australian dairy industry? ““If our cow can make an impact and make people understand perhaps farmers can get more help and assistance through these tough times. Milk needs to be treated like the ‘white gold’ that it is and not something that is considered just a ‘staple’ and in everyone’s fridge,” the school said in their artwork statement.
Reserve Grand Champion Archibull was awarded to Hurlstone Agricultural High School who looked at the wool industry in Western NSW. From discussions with their Young Farming Champion Anika Molesworth students learnt about African breeds of drought tolerant sheep used in Australia. “From this, we decided to delve further into the rich culture of Africa. Witch doctors, in essence, are members of societies who aid others using magic and medicine. This concept of healing felt extremely appropriate as a message of hope in a tough, overwhelming time,” the students said.
The Archibull awards were presented at a ceremony held at Sydney Olympic Park on Tuesday 19th November, attended by sponsors and special guests including celebrity gardener Costa Georgiadis.
The Archibull Prize Awards event photos can be found here
Watch the Archibull Prize Awards Events highlights here
Mega shout out to our 2019 Archibull Prize supporting partners empowering young people to solve tomorrow’s problems today
The Archibull Prize connects school students with the people and the places behind the food we eat and the natural fibres we use. Since its inception over 300,000 students have been engaged in courageous conversations about how farmers and the community can work together to create a world with zero hunger and zero waste.
Australia’s dairy and egg industries have been reinterpreted during The Archibull Prize this year so let’s meet the Archies for our milk and eggs.
Each year the world looks forward to the creative talents of the entire Beaudesert State High School as they bring quirky and imaginative angles to their Archie. Their 2019 entry is no exception incorporating real bovine bones, braille, a cut-out Herringbone dairy and a robotic milking arm.
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“We did not want our cow to look like a cow but more a piece of art. When the dairy guys came out to see us at the start and we shared our ideas Paul made a comment that he wanted the real world to understand that dairy farmers were not just ‘hicks’ but that there was real science to farming and that dairy farmers did more than just milk cows.”
Beyond the science Beaudesert students also looked at the reasons behind the decline of the Australian dairy industry.
“If our cow can make an impact and a few people understand then, perhaps, that can turn into many and farmers can get more help and assistance through these tough times. Milk needs to be treated like the ‘white gold’ that it is and not something that is considered just a ‘staple’ and in everyone’s fridge.”
Also taking a close look at the Australian dairy industry was East Loddon College in rural Victoria with their Archie named Tandarra to Toorak. Art students from Years 9, 10 and 12 explored the ways milk production supports both rural and urban communities and on their classic black and white cow they painted a road from the country dairy to the city fridge.
“We have built the city skyline on top of the cow in a ‘cartoonish’ manner to convey how we, in the country, are quite removed from the city life and we don’t know much about it. We can only imagine that it is the same for people living in the city that they don’t know about the dairy industry, but because it is so important to us and such a big part of our lives we want to teach them and help them learn about it.”
Students of East Loddon are proud and appreciative of living in a rural community with a close association to dairy farmers. They used ear tags and milking cups on their Archie, which were donated by a local farmer, and were thankful for the time farmers made to speak with them. Farmer Michael Lawry also appreciated the interest shown by the students:
“I believe that it takes the shared and reinforced values of a community to successfully raise a child and I believe that we live in such a community.”
The ever-enthusiastic YFC Jasmine Whitten guided two schools through the world of egg production and did you know Australia Never Delivers Rotten Eggs? That was the anagram for ANDRE Kluckin, the Archie entry from Picnic Point High School.
“We have created a giant egg carton that symbolically represents all eggs produced in Australia and sold in shops. It explores the three main methods of producing eggs; free range, caged and barn. Each method has many pros and cons, which creates an ongoing debate for consumers.”
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When discussing their creative designs for Andre the students relied heavily on input from their YFC.
“Jasmine made us think about the marketing strategies of egg cartons. The free range egg cartons usually have more bright and detailed logos and reflect open spaces and create an eye catching logo for the consumer. Caged eggs usually have plain labels with limited colour. Our logo and carton art is bright and fun to entice the consumer to buy our product. We have shown that all eggs, regardless of the farming technique, are carefully packaged and freshly available for people to buy and enjoy.”
Also exploring the world of eggs and poultry were the Year 8 Humanities students from Granville Boys High School who created Basketbull.
“While our Archibull is now a basket of eggs, the poultry industry certainly does not put its eggs in one basket. Rather, it incorporates biosecurity, food security, farm animal welfare, considered breeding practices for various types of poultry, the egg industry, the impact of climate change and environmental issues into a sustainable poultry industry practice that can feed, clothe, and power a hungry nation.”
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Using still-life and impressionist painting influences, mathematical artistic patterns and even chicken wire, each egg on Basketbull represents a different sector of the industry, and the Archie as a whole reflects the famous painting Panier D’Oeufs by Henri-Horace Roland Delaporte.
“Panier D’Oeufs translates in English to ‘basket of eggs’. Delaporte painted his masterpiece in 1788 which was also a significant year for the Australian poultry industry because it was the year that the first poultry arrived in Australia with the First Fleet. These new arrivals included 18 turkeys, 29 geese, 35 ducks, 122 fowls and 87 chickens.”
Mega shoutout to our supporting partners as you can see all the schools and students involved in 2019 Archibull Prize experience found it an invaluable learning tool on so many levels
Meet Sally Downie our newest Young Farming Champion and the winner of the 2019 Picture You in Agriculture Scholarship.
Photo by Forbes Corby
My name is Sally Downie. I’m the daughter of dairy farmers. It’s in my blood.
I grew up on a dairy farm near Forbes NSW with my family. I was the only girl in the family and the youngest. I had some big shoes to fit.A large pair of dirty, well worn boots, the pair you pull on each morning and don’t take off until much later in the evening. They are familiar, comfortable but a token of hard work. For years I strived to fit into those metaphorical shoes.
Farm life was normal to me. I’d come home from school and be up at the dairy milking cows, feeding calves and following mum around the farm.
In high school I began to show dairy cattle. It became my mission to show an animal of my own at every Forbes Show. I soon began to show cattle at Sydney Royal Show and International Dairy Week in Victoria. It was at these shows my eyes were opened to the opportunities in the dairy industry and the amazing people involved. I really began to look at cows, to see what made a good cow. I listened to the judge, to what they looked for and how they said it. I felt that this was my place.
By my senior years of high school life was very different. I was still invested in the farm and in love with cows. I was determined to be a dairy farmer, just like my mum. But I had my own goals, I had to make my family proud. Academics clicked for me, I did alright in school with little struggle (expect when it came to maths). I would work after school on the farm then come home to get assignments done, burning the midnight oil. To my family this was odd and something my brother found to bother me about. I began to struggle as I became sick. I was back and forth from hospital admissions and an array of tests, my list of absent days grew. I seemed ok but inside life was a living hell. I finished year 12 as Dux. I returned to work on the farm showing no interest in university.
Things fell to pieces quickly. By December I was very sick, February I was in hospital for several weeks, by April I was 33kg but took on the role as Central West Dairy Coordinator with DairyNSW anyway. Again I went to Sydney Royal but I was a mere shadow of myself, tired but determined. By May I was 30kg and absolutely devastated as I was told I’d be sent to hospital and I’d miss a farm tour of a local dairy farm. I tried to convince them to admit me after the tour. I didn’t win. I still had plans to visit New Zealand with the dairy network in June. At the same time my family were told I had three days to live. June came around and I was still in hospital, a feeding tube up my nose, weak, bed bound. In September I was discharged from Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. An eating disorder,that was my diagnosis. How do I live with that? What farmer won’t eat? If dad can’t accept it how can I?
I fell in love, I saw more opportunities in agriculture,
I began a university degree but I also saw another side to agriculture, the silent suffering, the devastation of mental illness. I accepted my illness. I accepted mental health and began to speak out about it I could no longer say silent about such suffering. I allowed myself to roam, to seek new paddocks.
I opened my eyes, I opened my heart, I opened my world up.
Resilience starts with believing in yourself. Sally Downie Runner Up Sydney Royal Easter Show Girl 2019
This week’s top stories from Young Farming Champions (YFC) around the country and globe.
First stop on our round the world tour of YFC this week is the tiny town of Tocal, NSW, where dozens of YFC and Kreative Koala teachers gathered for our first 2019 Workshop.
It’s over to Wool YFC Chloe Dutschke and Horticulture YFC Tayla Field for a workshop recap of the alumni stream:
Our workshop weekend kicked off with a dinner Friday night with a chance for Alumni YFC to catch up and to meet the 2019 intake of YFC and Kreative Koalas teachers.
Saturday started with a brainstorming session including how we can make the most of our program and to showcase Agriculture to the best of our abilities. This involved reviewing, gathering, implementing and analysis of our social media. We have many new ideas and cannot wait to bring them to life.
Josh Farr from Campus Consultancy is our new Alumni workshop facilitator and has brought an engaging energy to the program. We discussed the six needs of life that all of our decisions can be linked back to: Certainty, Variety, Connection, Significance, Growth and Contribution. We used them to understand our motives in situations and to recognize our needs in determining our own personal goals.
Our goal setting session was very rewarding with many of our YFC Alumni beginning to define goals for their own lives using the SMART goal setting rubric whilst also addressing and overcoming problems which can lead to our goals not being actioned.
Saturday’s program was also filled with a session on the sustainability circle conducted by Greg Mills, which showcased five of our YFC Alumni sharing with teachers participating in Kreative Koalas how their role meets the sustainability circle in their work. This was a great opportunity for teachers and Alumni to learn together.
We concluded Saturday with a dinner inviting special guests including Tracey Norman, Mayor of Dungog Council, Lindy Hyam, Chair of Hunter LLS, Jane Llyod Jones, School Engagement Officer at Hunter LLS as well as Julie White and Jo Hathaway from Tocal College. We left the dinner truly inspired after speeches from Lindy Hyam, Youth Voices Leadership Team vice-chair Emma Ayliffe and Josh Farr.
Listen to Emma’s dinner speech here:
Listen to Josh’s speech here:
Our workshop concluded on Sunday but not before YFC had a sustainability session debrief with Greg Mills, reiterating the importance of a good presentation and the use of three key messages and understanding the story we are trying to tell.
Josh once again captivated the YFC Alumni and took us on a journey to understand Emotional Intelligence and our belief system. We were challenged in this session to become vulnerable and delve deep into ourselves to find our beliefs and recognise how they affect our everyday lives. This session was very emotive for all our Alumni recognising how negative self beliefs can shape the way we think about situations and define experiences we have had.
This workshop was by far the best workshop I have attended, it was emotive, engaging, challenging with lots of new information learnt. Thank you very much to the Alumni, new YFC, Teachers and facilitators for a fantastic weekend.
Thank you for a brilliant recap Chloe and Tayla!
In the Field
Wool YFC and Elders Wool Technician and Auctioneer Sam Wan has achieved a selling centre trifecta: Auctioneering the Elders Wool Fremantle offering means that she has now sold at all three wool selling centres in Australia!
This career highlight comes on the back of Sam’s two week study tour to Italy as part of the award for Elders “Thomas Elder” Employee of the Year.
Wool YFC Samantha Wan: Starting in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, the city of Biella became the center of the textile business because of its geographical features. Written documents prove that wool workers and weavers have been active in the region since 1245. It’s known as the ‘Wool City’, as it’s where the best wool mills in Italy are gathered and the most high quality woolen fabrics are weaved.
The water from the area is particularly hard due to its Alpine beginnings. As water runs down from the Piedmont mountains into the Biellese region, it picks up elements of the mineral formations it erodes along the way. The resulting hard water, which is particularly valuable for finishing fabrics, helped to distinguish the local fabrics and aided Biella’s ascent to the top of the world of wool.
Verrone, combing mill to see how the greasy wool begins the journey in Italy
Botto Giuesseppie, iconic fabric mill – one of the three ‘Royals’ of Biella
Tollegno 1900 SPA, mainly a worsted fabric producer, producing 4.5million metres of fabric each year, in over 5000 variations
Fratelli Piacenza SPA, woollen mill specialising in the Noble Fibres (superfine merino, cashmere, yak)
Marzotto, spinning and weaving factory in Valdagno
Simply incredible to see how the wool fibres are nurtured to create garments.
Fascinating stop overs at Parma ham factory and sheep cheese dairy how they carve a niche for their products.
AWI/The Woolmark Company Milan office to hear of the latest collaborations and the Italian perspective on wool in today’s fashion
While wool is always the highlight, the tour also took me to iconic sights and experiences such as a gondola ride in Venice, the ruins of Pompeii (highschool dream fulfilled!), the Vatican and Sistine Chapel, Trevi Fountain, Florentine steak, the Colosseum and so many more!
Most people bring back trinket souvenirs, I’ve brought back a healthy appreciation of coffee and a bit of an espresso habit!
Out of the field
One of our newest YFCs from the University of New England, Becca George, has attended 3 conferences/ workshops across three countries in the past three weeks! “The 24th-26th of June I attended the IFAMA conference in Hangzhou China, then after landing in Sydney from Vietnam I went straight to the YFC workshop & then on the 8th-9th of July I was at the Australian Summer Grains Conference on the Gold Coast! No rest for the wicked or a YFC 😋” Becca says. Look back through our posts on Picture You in Agriculture to see more highlights of Becca’s trip.
Wool YFC and Peter Westblade Memorial Scholarship winner Chloe Dutschke recently attended the Intercollegiate Meat Judging competition careers expo, talking to students about her experience in agriculture so far and about the Peter Westblade Scholarship. “My highlight was seeing a record number of 45 companies attend the expo supporting youth heading into ag and the red meat industry. There were a record number of companies with graduate positions, so great to see them investing in the next generation of ag,” Chloe says. “It was also fantastic talking to students who are willing to do the tough jobs, start at the bottom and work their way up, to create innovation and showcase our ag industry.”
Eggs and Poultry YFC and YVLT Communication Sub Committee member Jasmine Whitten has had a busy week attending conferences and workshops across NSW.
“I went to the GrasslandsNSW conference, where I heard Greg Mills speak on social licence and also got to catch up with (Wool YFC) Katherine Bain. The conference covered so much, from how to build more profitable grazing businesses, to how producers are managing the drought building more profitable agricultural businesses.”
“I was also at the Bank Ready workshop which is part of the young farmer business program run by NSW DPI. The event had a great representation of people from lawyers, accountants, bankers and of course young farmers. My brother works on our family farm and he walked away inspired that there were options for young people to get into farming. These events are worth getting to if they are run in your region,” Jas says.
Huge congratulations to YFC and agronomist Casey Onus who was named Agronomist of the Year at the 2019 Summer Grains Conference on the Gold Coast last week. We are so proud of you Casey, well done!
“The 26-year-old B&W Rural agronomist beat out experienced agronomists from around the country, including fellow Moree agronomist Tony Lockrey who was named runner-up, to win the Zoe McInnes Memorial Award which recognises outstanding contribution to agronomic excellence by an agronomist.”Read more in the Moree Champion here.
Congrats to Youth Voices Leadership Team Chair and dairy geneticist Dr Jo Newton on her awesome op-ed “Forging an agricultural leadership path” published on Farm Online last week.
Jo writes, ‘’Leaders aren’t born overnight. Leadership needs to be viewed by our sector as an on-going journey. We need to come together as an industry and put more structure behind the development of our future leaders. We need to offer them support from all angles and respond to what they say they need next. If we stop reinventing the wheel and started putting four-wheels on the cart, we can travel in the right direction, together. For our sustainable future, experienced leaders and emerging leaders need to work together. The emerging need to be brave: step up, get involved, take a chance. The experienced need to reach back down and pull us up. By working together, we can ensure that our leadership journeys don’t end when the industry event does.”
Well done to Picture You in Agriculture YFC Alana Black on her opinion piece published in The Land this week titled, “We need to be proactive in telling farm stories.”
“In order to stop decline of rural economies, we need to recognise it isn’t purely a geographical issue, and to ensure their strong continuation we need urban consumers to buy into regional communities,” writes Alana. Read the full story here.
YVLT Vice-Chair Emma Ayliffe is inspiring us all this week with her optimism and vision. Emma was showcased on australianleadership.com
Congratulations and a huge Thank You to friend of the PYIA programs Greg Mills who was recently thanked for his long-term contribution and support of our YFC with the presentation of a Champion of Champions award. No one deserves it more than you Greg, thank you! Watch here:
Lifetime Highlights
Wool YFC Lucy Collingridge made is back from the Arctic Circle in time to attend the Tocal Workshop. We were excited to hear about the rest of her incredible adventure:
“I headed to Norway and Denmark for a holiday. Most of my time was spent on a ship touring the western coast of Svalbard. I visited the worlds most northern town (Ny Alesund), saw a polar bear and reindeer, kayaked around some massive glaciers, went for a dip surrounded by icebergs and pack ice as it was snowing, and learned heaps about the amazing animals of the Arctic – did you know the Arctic Tern travels from the Arctic to Antarctica and back each year?! The really cool (pun intended) part of the trip was that it was a reunion of friends made on a trip to Antarctica two years ago – 20 of us “Epic Antarcticans” who were all on a Love Your Sister fundraising trip to Antarctica made the trip north for this Arctic adventure! “Places We Go” were on board to film the trip so that episode of the show will hopefully be out later this year.” We can’t wait to watch it Lucy!
Climate YFC and western NSW farmer Anika Molesworth is fundraising for her journey to Antarctica later this year where she will work closely with women in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine) from around the world on matters that affect the sustainability of our planet. Anika’s journey is part of her 12 month Homeward Bound leadership program and her campaign for support to get to her to Antarctica can be found here: chuffed.org/project/farmer-in-antarctica
This week our Young Farming Champions (YFC) would like to take a moment to extend our thoughts and well wishes to those farmers in Queensland currently affected by devastating widespread flooding. To our North Queensland cousins, we are thinking of you! #StrongerTogether
This week’s top stories from Young Farming Champions around the country (and globe!)
In the Field
Happy International Women in Science Day!
Our Young Farming Champion network is full of legendary women using science to make the world a safer, healthier, more abundant place for humans and animals to live. Today Picture You in Agriculture is celebrating them and their vital work with this video starring YFCs Lucy Collingridge, Danila Marini, Alexandrea Galea, Anika Molesworth, Jo Newton and Dione Howard. Wonderful work from wonderful women! #WomeninScience #InternationalWomeninScienceDay #WomeninSTEM
Wool YFC Bessie Thomas made headlines in the Rural Weekly this fortnight with a joyful story following her family’s journey through the last two years of drought. Bessie, her husband and their almost three-year-old daughter farm merinos in far-western NSW. She has received much kind feedback following the story and wanted to thank everyone for their ongoing support through the drought. Read the story here.
Out of the Field
Congrats to YFC Bron Roberts who has just launched her new business venture B R Rural Business offering tailored management solutions for productive beef enterprises. Bron says, “I’m passionate about the beef industry and helping producers to be economically, environmentally and socially sustainable. If you or anyone you know need a hand keeping records and want to use them to make real decision to improve your livestock productivity then I’m your girl!’ You can support Bron in her venture on Facebook here
Youth Voices Leadership Team Mentor Leader and Local Lands Service vet Dione Howard spoke to NSW Country Hour late last month. Listen in here from 11min35sec to hear Dione outline the risks of livestock eating toxic weeds causing liver damage. Great job Dione!
Beef YFC Kirsty McCormack, who’s currently living and working in Canada, was spotted in this case study by Rural RDC.
YFC Tim Eyes and his partner Hannah, who run The Food Farm on the NSW Central Coast, recently joined Nationals candidate for Gilmore, Katrina Hodgkinson in judging the 2019 Kiama Showgirl. Well done Tim and Hannah!
Tim will also be returning to the Sydney Royal Easter show this April. Tim was over the moon when he got the call from the RAS of NSW in 2017 inviting him to be the farmer the glamping participants get to share the campfire experience with over the 14 days of the show. He so looking forward to inspiring the lucky glampers to be as excited about the agriculture sector as he is again in 2019. Read all about it here.
Cotton YFC Martin Murray was profiled on NSW Young Farmers Facebook page this week for his role on the Young Farmer Council. Great read Martin!
“I’m an agronomist working for a group called AMPS, we’re an independent agchem reseller with a very strong focus on on-farm research to improve grower outcomes. I work with our research team in the running of our trials and our growers to transfer our research findings into on farm results to further strengthen their businesses. “I joined NSW Farmers in 2015 as they are able to effectively represent the farmers of NSW, taking their thoughts and concerns to parliament. I also joined the Young Farmer Council so I could be proactive in representing the interests and concerns of young people in or entering agriculture. “There are two major ways we can give young farmers a hand up going into the 2019 state election. First, stamp duty relief will remove the significant disadvantage in relation to other first home buyers, because we can’t currently access the exemptions offered to young city residents purchasing homes zoned as residential. Second, we can help lift the productivity of our farm businesses through investing in our farmers’ digital, financial and risk management skills.”
Prime Cuts
Our Youth Voices Leadership Vice-Chair Emma Ayliffe is an invited speaker at the 2019 Australian Summer Grains Conference. Em’s been invited to talk on ‘Careers in Grain’ in the student forum. You can find our more detail about the program and register to attend here.
Emma is also jetting off to Israel shortly as part of her prize for winning Runner Up in the ADAMA Agronimist of the Year awards. Safe and happy travels Emma! We’re looking forward to hearing all about it.
Sticking with the conference theme, Youth Voices Leadership Team Chair Jo Newton, will be heading to Edinburgh in April where she’s had a paper accepted at the British Society of Animal Science Conference. The paper highlights the value of using data from commercial Australian dairy farms to demonstrate the benefits of herd improvement practices.
Jo’s not the only YFC venturing to the Northern hemisphere. One of our newest YFC Alana Black will be heading to Scotland. While there she will be working for the Rural Youth Project. The Rural Youth Project aims to “develop feasible strategies to develop leadership and enterprise skills amongst young people in agricultural and rural communities based on understanding their current situation, aspirations, opportunities and challenges.”
Given the massive contribution Alana’s to the YVLT Communication Sub-Committee we know she’s going to make a really valuable contribution in Scotland and we’re looking forward to the sharing of ideas and experiences between the Rural Youth Project and PYiA. Read more about Alana’s journey here.
Congratulations to YFC and Climate Action advocate Anika Molesworth who has been appointed to the Crawford Fund’s NSW Committee. The Crawford Fund is a not-for-profit organisation that raises awareness of the benefits to Australia and developing countries of Australia’s engagement in international agricultural research and development.
The 2018 Narromine Showgirl and Grains YFC Keiley O’Brien will represent Narromine at the Zone 6 Final of The Land Sydney Royal Showgirl Competition on February 16 in Young. Keiley will be up against 39 other Showgirls, from which three finalists will be chosen. Read more in the Narromine News here. Good luck to Keiley, and also to YFC Jasmine Whitten who will head to Narrabri to compete in her Showgirl Zone Final on February 26th! #goodluck
Dairy research scientist Dr Jo Newton has been named as a finalist in the 2018 Young Achiever Awards for her work fostering change in the Australian dairy industry through the adoption of genetic tools and technologies.
Dr Newton is one of three finalists out of 60 young people nominated under the Leadership Award category for the 2018 awards, with the winner to be announced at a gala dinner on May 18.
Dr Newton currently works for Agriculture Victoria Research on the ImProving Herds Project, which aims to determine the contribution of herd improvement to the Australian dairy industry.
“I grew up in suburban Melbourne and was introduced to agriculture through my experiences at Tintern Grammar’s on campus farm,” she said.
“Work experience in high school helped me set my sights on an agricultural degree and I moved interstate to study for a Bachelor of Rural Science.”
Dr Newton also completed her PhD in animal breeding and genetics before taking on her role with the Victorian Government.
“I saw the position advertised and the chance to work on an applied multi-disciplinary project in livestock genetics with direct engagement with industry was exactly what I was looking for,” she said.
“Working in agriculture means we are in a fast-growing sector; couple that with the digital revolution and a strong demand for graduates – it all makes for an exciting future in agriculture.”
She believes Australia has a strong track record when it comes to delivering cutting edge research, but there is room for improvement with its transfer of knowledge.
Dr Newton encouraged other young people to get into agriculture, particularly young women.
“Agriculture is still a male dominated industry, and being mentored by strong female role models early in my career, including my manager and PhD supervisor, has certainly played an important role in my development.
“I feel honoured to have been selected as a finalist; young people may only be 20 per cent of our current population but we are the future. I really hope to use this spotlight to promote the diverse career pathways and wonderful opportunities in the agricultural sector.”
ImProving Herds is a three-year, $1.8million project that has gathered evidence from real farms to determine the contribution of herd improvement to Australian dairy businesses. Funded by the Gardiner Dairy Foundation and Dairy Australia, ImProving Herds is a collaboration involving the Victorian Government, DataGene, Dairy Australia, Holstein Australia, and the National Herd Improvement Association of Australia (NHIA).
Thanks to the support of the Aussie Farmers Foundation we are able to bring dairy back and showcase the Australian pork and eggs/poultry industries as well as Wool, Grains, Sheep and Cattle and the Cotton Industry
Gwynneville Public School will be getting a visit from YFC Dr Jo Newton. Wow wont she amaze them with the cutting genetics research she is involved in
You can read all about Dr Jo’s work here In Dairy New Australia
TWENTY-SEVEN dairy farms across Australia will be put under the microscope to prove the link between genetic merit of animals and on-farm performance.
Speaking to Dairy News Australia as part of last month’s Future Ready Expo in Bega, research scientist Dr Jo Newton said the Improving Herds project will ensure the science behind genetics is backed up by real-world application.
‘’It’s one thing to do genetic research in an office building somewhere, but it’s another to actually take what you’ve learned and translate it into real on-farm applications and results,” Dr Newton, from the Victorian Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (DEDJTR) said.
The project has genomic tested each focus farms’ rising two year old heifers, totalling more than 2500.
“So now we already have information about the genetic merit of these animals before we know their lactation, their susceptibility to disease, etc and through the lifetime of the project we will be able to follow these cows, through their first lactation, through their second lactation and see how that performance in the dairy translates back to their predicted genetic merit,” Dr Newton said.
“We’re looking to demonstrate the value that better data recording and high genetic merit can contribute to farmer profit.”
Previous research has confirmed high genetic merit cows are more profitable.
‘’The focus farm model enables the information to be gathered at various regions and various types of farm systems.’’
Dr Newton said environmental factors – such as mastitis – are accounted for within the study.
“’One of the advantages of looking across some many different focus farms is that we can look within a herd.
‘’And when you are comparing animals within the same herd, they are subject to the same management routines and environmental conditions.”’
I have spent most of my time at local shows either showing cows or horses.
The upper Lachlan Catchment Landcare group was a great supporter of the 2014 Archibull Prize and Crookwell being part of this region their local show was a great opportunity to celebrate their local Archibull Prize 2014 entries, tell the great stories of our sheep, cattle, wool and dairy farmers and meet the locals
So I jumped in the car last Saturday to join the wonderful Mary Bonet and the Upper Landcare Group in their tent at the Show
The delightful Mary Bonet
Seeing these wonderful books at our stand created for the Cattle and Sheep industry by the Kondinin Group was blast from the past by showgoer Scott Boyle who help collate them whilst working at Kondinin in WA
Having had quite a walk to get in the gate I was thrilled to meet Dr Rod Hoare who is the Chief Ground Steward and has access to this great little golf cart- the perfect vehicle to tour the show sites for this little black duck
Chief Ground Steward Rod Hoare enjoyed the traditional dagwood dog whilst touring the showground in this wonderful little buggy
First up was the local sheep shearing competition an iconic part of livestock agriculture in Australia. Competitors are judged by the quality of their shearing as well as the speed of the shear. Visit True Blue Australia to find out more
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I took this little time lapse video of the intermediate class won by the shearer at Stand 2
Next up was the pavilion. The photos share the kaleidoscope of colour of the arts and crafts and vegies, produce, flowers, cakes and everything that says the finest of rural Australian local show culture
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I caught up with some ladies working and supporting rural mental health through the Rural Adversity Mental Health program and we had our picture taken for the local paper.
Then Mary introduced me to local member for Goulburn the Hon. Pru Goward who was very impressed with the Archibull artworks of the local schools
Day 1 of Week 2 of the 2014 Archibull Prize judging saw artwork judge Wendy Taylor head west towards the Blue Mountains
First off the rank was Hurlstone Agricultural High School
This is what Wendy had to say about their Archie who they have called Ni Cow
“Ni Cow isn’t a bull in a china shop. She is a cow from China.
Everything about her has layers of meaning and complexity and has been well thought out. She is well balanced visually, and takes an interesting viewpoint with both her sustainability message -that of financial sustainability -as well as her viewpoint of the dairy industry. She is relevant and intrinsically unique. Her delicate patterning and limited colour palette perfectly reflect the concept. No detail has been missed and every component adds to the total picture.
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Next up was Hawkesbury High School
Wendy said “Baa-Baa Rella” has the best horns!
They are red and white striped and link perfectly with her name and elements of the wool industry (Barber’s Pole Worms). She shows us two very different views of the wool industry in Australia. One side is vibrant, lush and reminiscent of the paintings of Tom Roberts, while the other side is a graphic and complex collage. The simple map on her side is a great element which complements her story well.
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Then Wendy headed back to Caringbah where she visited James Ruse Agricultural High School
Would you like to see inside the Dairy industry? Or inside “Archie”?
The hero element of Archie is the story itself. All elements of the industry are covered in her concept, with the process line from paddock to product being the ‘inside’ story. The working milk pump is a star, as is her interactivity. Her vibrant colours stand out and she is fun and playful. She has features all over to make the viewer smile.
Meat judging in Japan
Growing calves in Koroit 
Participating in consumer beef research
