Youth Agriculture Group is building the network for Australia's Ag Future
14/3/2018
The Western Downs region now has a new agriculture group thanks to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF). The group aims to bring together persons aged 15 to 35 years old that are working in the agriculture industry. In the group, they will get the opportunity to share ideas and experiences and use this shared knowledge to make a better future for agricultural innovations and to ensure that the industry has a right amount of younger players as well.
Laura Carman, the DAF industry development officer, notes that the agriculture industry has one of the workforces that is most aged in Australia. As younger agricultural producers explore new and innovative farming methods, the older folk are left to traditional farming. The group aims to have younger persons learn these innovations and take them into agriculture to teach the older generation that there are better ways to achieve maximum efficiency while working smarter and not harder.The formation of the group creates a network of influential young producers who have ideas and experiences to share which can be used to assist in making farming practices more innovative. The aim is to build a better future and also to help boost agribusiness in the Western Downs region and even across Australia. The initiative aims to form relationships and build a network for the younger generation of farmers and farming professionals, exposing them to different farming techniques and technologies.
The group will cover all aspects of agriculture from planting to reaping and so much more. It will cover a diverse range of topics including marketing, engineering, banking and paddock and plate. The group is arranged to meet three or four times each year. The meetings will be held at the farms of different members allowing the members the opportunity to showcase their plans and whatever technologies and techniques they are making use of on their farms. Group members can now use this knowledge to make their farms better and to streamline their operations to make them more efficient.
The first meeting for the Young Agriculture Group was held on Thursday the 15th of February 2018. The meet up was hosted at the Mort and Co's Feedlot in Grassdale close to Dalby. The group got to enjoy a tour of the feedlot and the farm before moving on to presentations and having discussions. The presentations and discussions are aimed at gauging the future direction of the group for insight into what the members want to see.
The group promises to be an excellent way for young people to apply their knowledge and experience to the field and to benefit from each other's experience and expertise. The group is a great idea, and members have already had the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience. The feedback so far shows that the future success of the group is promising.
