Addressing Young Farmer’s Concerns
23/2/2018
The First Innovation Generation Local Conference takes place on the 22nd of February. Here you will hear about some exciting topics from farm investment opportunities to innovative agricultural technology.
The First Innovation Generation Local Conference takes place on the 22nd of February. Here you will hear about some exciting topics from farm investment opportunities to innovative agricultural technology.The conference was put together by GrainGrowers, the peak national grain representative body and The Facey Group. The conference aims to bring local young farmers together with agribusiness people in a setting where they can discuss and network with each other. The Future Farmers Network which is a not for profit body with the primary focus of building networking and engagement for young people in agriculture is also a significant supporter of this event.
Keynote Speakers include Lewis Johnstone who is a 4th generation grain farmer from Western Australia. He took over his family’s sheep and cropping farm at the young age of 21, and his speech will share personal as well as his professional journey on owning and managing a farm. He will speak of the many opportunities for setting up farms. Mr Johnstone in 2016 completed the Grain Growers Australian Grain Farm Leadership Program.
Another speaker at the event will be Blake O’Meagher. O’Meagher is an agronomist and is a member of the Farmanco agronomy team which travelled to the United States in recent times to view how drones were being used in agriculture. He has an infectious passion for new and emerging technology and will talk about analysis on current technology as well as proposed solutions for farming from a technological standpoint in Australian agriculture.
Another speaker David McCarthy will speak about investing in farming and how important this is for persons owning and managing farms. McCarthy is a financial advisor.
The conference expects to see over 50 young and eager farmers from all over including as far as York and Williams. The venue for the event is the Wickepin Community Center.
Sarah Hyde, the executive officer of Facey Group, was quoted saying: “We have listened to our younger farmers and have ensured our program includes the top topics they said they wanted to hear about, through our recent survey,”
“There will be plenty of opportunity to quiz the speakers.
“We have included time for networking, with a sundowner at the conclusion of the day.”
Michael Southan, the chief executive officer of GrainGrowers, said the conference is getting bigger and bigger each year and they see the need to take the discussion on a regional scale. Having regional meetings will allow them to get to young farmers in other regions who are pressured with working on a farm while struggle with cost and distance to make it to the current event. Having regional conferences will give more farmers the ability to attend the meetings and gain the valuable insight that is offered to help them become more efficient in their farming practices.
He was quoted saying that “The first event in Moree (New South Wales) last year was so successful that GrainGrowers is now planning several more in other regional areas,”
“The idea of bringing the ‘best bits’ of the IG conference program to Wickepin has been well supported by Facey Group, and we are pleased to be involved with them.”
