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Whilst in Lockhart for the Spirit of the Land yearly celebration I had an opportunity to frock and fascinate up and attend the Lockhart Picnic Races. BTW no shortage of men and women in the Riverina who would do high fashion proud at Flemington

After hearing a couple of male farmers I was introduced to say, when asked where their partner was “She’s working so I can spend it” Acknowledging upfront the phrase is said in jest it made me cringe. It’s time for it to be no longer the norm that too often female partners of farmers have no personal identity other than being the bread winner so the farm can put bread on other people’s tables.

Source 

As one woman who spent 35 years of her life doing this it isn’t much fun. It’s only in the last ten years when I realised it was time to find my personal identity, give my life a sense of meaning that I could empower others to ensure safe and healthy food is truly valued by everyone in this country. It well beyond time to debunk the myth ‘food at rock-bottom prices is a birthright’ supermarket duopolies happily perpetuate.  As this article from Fresh Agenda reminds us Food doesn’t come Cheap

Rehanded’s Managing Director Jim Gall is so right when he says

If Australian agriculture is to thrive, it needs talented men and women. Businesses, governments and representative bodies that accommodate flexible career pathways and an open mind, may just attract some of the best business, science, engineering and marketing brains in the world, and therefore provide Australian produced food and fibre with a distinct and sustainable brand and business advantage.

Now I must declare my interest here, I employ women in agribusiness …. . They are often the most talented creative and strategic minds in the business. I also have a farm that is successfully run by my wife ……..

So why do I care? Well I also have two daughters and if one day they choose to pursue a career in agriculture, I would like to think they would be afforded the same opportunities I have.

Jim Gall .  From the Back Block to the Boardroom

Like Jim, I too am very lucky to be able to identify and nurture and support some of the most talented, creative and strategic, bright young minds in agriculture today through the Young Farming Champions program. More than 60% of this team are women and none of them have any intentions of pursuing careers that see them as the off farm Money Tree diversification strategy that supports the farm. They all want an innovative, rewarding, dynamic,exciting and profitable agriculture sector that they play an active role in creating and sustaining

And that means disrupting the way agriculture traditionally thinks, talks and acts.

It means agriculture not just talking about working together to achieve more innovative solutions and better results. It means walking the talk.

It means taking a collaborative approach to raising agricultural awareness, leadership development, community engagement and inspiring the next generation’s best and brightest to seek careers in the agriculture sector.

It means forging partnerships to identify, prepare and support our emerging leaders.

It means creating the right environment for our young people and giving them the skills to thrive.

The Australian Young Farmer of the Year Anika Molesworth is just one of many examples of what happens when you expose bright and creative and innovative young minds in agriculture to some of Australia’s finest communication, marketing and professional development experts as well as the diverse networks necessary to support them.

The voice of the collective can be so much stronger than working alone

When we come together under a common mission with shared values truly extraordinary achievements can be made…

Anika Molesworth Australian Young Farmer of the Year

Listen to more of what this wonderful young woman has to say here

I had a big smile on my face this morning when I read this story Female auctioneer paves the way in Australian wool industry

Cassie Baile once auctioned me and like everyone in the room I was just flabbergasted  to watch this gorgeous quiet young thing turn into a force of nature when she picked up the gavel

#GoGirlfriend Like me all your fellow Young Farming Champions in the room that day knew you were going to make your mark in the industry that lights your fire and the Wool Industry is very lucky to have you

Reprint ……..

Cassie Baile has opened the door on opportunities for young women aspiring to become wool auctioneers in a role traditionally influenced by men.

The 25-year-old from the NSW New England has been appointed as an auctioneer for the Australian Wool Network at the Yennora Wool Selling Centre.

In her role as Northern Wool Technical Officer, Cassie will divide her time between client work at AWN’s Goulburn branch and the showroom floor in Sydney.

The only female auctioneer at the Yennora Wool Selling Centre, Cassie admits to getting a buzz out of wielding the gavel.

“I was fortunate enough in the first week I started with AWN on July 27, they asked me to sell in Room 2, and that was a fantastic start,’’ she said.

“While we are running one week’s sale, we are always preparing for the following week’s sale, so week on week the whole AWN team are quite busy.’’

Cassie said the key skills for auctioneering were communication, elocution, presentation and a good rapport with clients and buyers.

“Since beginning auctioneering two years ago, I have received support and guidance from all within the industry,’’ she said.

“In what has been traditionally perceived as a male influenced sector, I could not have asked for more support from all involved.’’

Cassie will move to the Goulburn branch in October to work with AWN branch manager Mark Hedley, and his staff.

“I will be based in Goulburn and then travel between Sydney to type and prepare the next week’s sale, and make sure all the samples on the show floor are complete for the catalogue,’’ she said.

“In Goulburn I will be managing my own client base with all aspects of their wool production. This includes sheep and ram selection, flock management, wool marketing and ensuring a high quality of service.

“As part of the Australian Wool Network team, I will be working with my colleagues to proactively gain the best results for our clients throughout all stages of their wool production, from the shearing shed to the production of high quality woollen garments.’’

Cassie hails from a superfine wool property at Bendemeer in the NSW New England region.

Her childhood memories of helping with sheep work and in the shearing shed fuelled her passion for agriculture and the wool industry.

Cassie gained her professional Woolclassers’ Certificate in 2009 through Tamworth TAFE before completing two years of an Agribusiness Degree at the University of New England, Armidale.

In 2012, she obtained a traineeship with a pastoral house, working as a Wool Technical Support Officer at Yennora.

Cassie is pleased to be moving back into a regional area with a strong history of wool production.

“I never saw myself living in Sydney but it was a good base to start,’’ she said.

“When I was approached by Australian Wool Network, I was able to make possible those goals I had always wanted to achieve.

“Everybody in the company has been so supportive, making my transition to the new role very smooth.’’

Cassie encourages all young people with an interest in agriculture to pursue their goals.

“I believe your personal drive and passion will create the best possible future for you,’’ she said.

“Find a way and make it work, and you will get there.’’

When it comes to women in agriculture, Cassie said there were no limits.

“There are equal opportunities for everyone – all young people who are interested in the industry should embrace their passion and make the most of it,’’ she said.

“Set a goal, go for it and make it happen.’’

“It is great to see women moving into traditional male roles in agriculture, such as wool classing.

“We need to encourage young people to come into the industry to ensure its survival.’’

I love this time of year when the entries for The 2015 Archibull Prize start flowing in.

This year the schools are taking the program to a whole new level

Who would have thought you could teach agriculture through dance.

Never underestimate the power of the story of the journey of the food you eat, the clothes you wear and the roof over your head

Well done Northlakes High –  on behalf of farmers everywhere we salute

your

True Colours is the animation entry from Northlakes High School for the 2015 Archibull Prize.

“True Colours – Woolbaakee Weaving an Australian Woollen Dream” explores our ideas about the Australian Wool Industry, and all that we have learnt through our 2015 Archibull journey.

This year our approach to exploring our commodity, Wool was a little different. We wanted to take an abstract and artful view. We have showcased more of the exceptional talent we have at Northlakes High School.

As in our artwork, we also wanted to use the line and form created by the woollen yarn in dance conceptually and physically in this piece. We also focused heavily on the reciprocal relationship of native vegetation (expressed through Aboriginal dance and movement), grazing and Western farming methods. The fine balance and interaction between the two is one element that is key to Australia producing the highest quality woollen products and garments anywhere in the world.

There are also personal references to our Young Farming Champion, Bessie Thomas in our lyrical piece, as in our Archibull artwork as well. We thought this was an important element to include in the finished product as it is a very important part of our 2015 Archibull journey. The Australian wool industry isn’t just about farming, it is about building relationships, working together and supporting each other – symbolised through our school’s relationship with Bessie.

This certainly was a huge group effort. We are very proud of the finished product and can’t wait to share it.

Want to know more read the very powerful back story here

I am writing this blog post to debunk a lot of the inaccuracies and misconceptions that appear on the internet about livestock production. *See my level and expertise to do this at the bottom of the post

Let’s put a few things up front

All food and fibre production has an environmental footprint. Domestic livestock (as opposed to pets) are bred for purpose and that purpose it to provide high quality healthy protein for human consumption with a low environmental impact.

It is absolute rubbish to say ruminant livestock are not ‘evolved to eat grains’ after all a grain is part of a plant. It’s like saying humans are not evolved to eat grains. What humans are not evolved to do is eat grass and this is what cows do very well.

The role of the farmer is to ensure his/her livestock has as low an impact on the planet as possible and to give their livestock the best whole of life experience they can

One of the ways farmers are able to reduce their livestock’s environmental footprint is to breed cattle that have genes that ensure they can turn what they eat into protein for human consumption as efficiently as they can. That means less grass per cow eaten per kg of meat produced. Beef cattle in this country produce 15% more beef per animal than they did 30 years ago. This means they have also reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 15% – Well done cattle (and farmers)

Cattle are ruminants and this digestive process allows them to break down the cellulose content of the grass, which then allows them to take grass through a process that turns it into meat (or milk)

To do this they have little bugs in their stomachs which break down the food. These bugs produce methane which is quite a significant greenhouse gas (25 x more powerful than Carbon Dioxide). The better quality the grass the less work the bugs have to do and the less methane they produce

So smart farmers grow high quality grass which is better for their cows and better for the environment. Feeding cows grain which is much easier for cows to digest than grass obviously means the bugs in the cows stomach do less work and hence produce less methane. All good stuff

There is no denying grain feeding means in farmer lingo cows have a “hot” diet and this means too much grain can make the stomach a bit too hot for the bugs and they die. Not good for cows or bugs so both cattle ( and bugs) are introduced to grain feeding slowly to allow them to adapt just the same as when they are moved from poor quality grass to higher quality grass

Its also important to note cows on a grain fed diet aren’t exactly on a fully grain fed diet. Their ration is a mixture of feed stuffs that includes lots of high quality fibre like hay and silage to ensure the cow’s stomach environment is conducive for bug survival. The other thing to note is cows spend most of their lives eating grass. The grain feeding is just a finishing process

Because cows on a grain fed diet grow quicker they can be processed quicker and this is better for the environment from a whole of life methane output perspective. Lots more info at the bottom of the page**

But let’s not get too carried away about methane – both systems are environmentally sustainable in their own way, and the choice between the two types of beef (Grass and Grain) is purely based on taste personal preference

At AGvision this week thanks to Kylie Schuller an expert in this space I had the opportunity to get a clearer understanding and have a taste test. The eating quality characteristics of meat (texture, juiciness, flavour) are indeed entirely dependent on the feed that the cattle eat.

Kylie Schuller from Andrews Meat giving students the low down on grass fed vs grain fed with Sally Strelitz  Marketing and Communications Officer University of New England

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Students at AGvision do the taste test – Grain Fed vs Grass Fed

What is marbling

The take home message from all of this is

A balanced diet containing red meat as a nutritious protein is good for you

My expertise

I have been in agriculture for close to sixty years. In the main ensuring cows can produce safe, affordable and nutritious milk. I also spent 20 years on a mixed farm that grew crops and produced lamb and beef

I am not a scientist but have completed a ‘high level’ science and medical degree

Grain fed facts

Cattle are considered grain fed if they have been on a grain based ration for at least 60 days for a male and 70 days for a female. To be classified as grain fed, cattle must also be sourced from a feedlot that is accredited by the National Feedlot Accreditation Scheme and audited by AUSMEAT.

Depending on the market requirements cattle are generally entered into a feedlot at around 12 months of age, and fed for a specified period of time. They fed a variety of grains (e.g. wheat, barley, and sorghum), roughages (hay, straw) and bi-products (brewers grain, cornflakes) in a ration that is formulated by a nutritionist to ensure the animals are receiving optimal amounts of protein, energy, vitamins and minerals for their stage of growth and development.

Grain feeding greatly increases the ability to produce a consistent product in terms of yield, quality and supply:

• Marbling is greatly increased in grain fed cattle due to specialised nutrition
• Grain feeding helps to even out inconsistencies in supply caused by Australia’s volatile environment.
• Grain fed beef is often described as having a buttery flavour

Key Ideas surrounding Grain Fed beef:

• Grain fed cattle produce 38% less CO₂ per kg of beef than grass fed cattle
• Grain fed cattle spend majority of their life in a paddock
• The feedlot industry represents around 2% of the Australian cattle herd at any one point in time. 
• Higher incidence of marbling, which means higher levels of good cholesterol.
• Like the grass fed industry the Australian feedlot industry is predominantly owned and run by families. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) confirms that 98% of feedlots are Australian owned and that 91% of farms are owned by families. 

Grass Fed Beef:

Grass fed cattle live and survive solely on pastures for their entire lives. Grass contains a pigment called “carotene” which is absorbed into animal fat giving it a distinctive yellow hue. Due to the variation in grasses eaten, grass fed beef is often described as having a complex beef flavour.

The ability to produce high quality beef off of grass is entirely dependent on the environment. If grass is in limited supply or of low quality (due to extreme heat, lack of rainfall etc.) then beef production is of a lower quality. Therefore most superior grass fed beef comes from areas with a consistent high rainfall, and moderate temperature ranges.

Key Ideas surrounding Grass Fed Beef:

• Grass fed beef can be lower in overall fat content than Grain fed beef. 
• High in Vitamin A and Vitamin E, due largely to the beta carotene in their diets. 
• Grass fed cattle have high levels of vital antioxidants 
• Healthier balance of Essential fatty acids – but this very much depends on the types of pastures they are fed (having done these on farm pasture trials myself I can certainly testify to that) 
• Grass fed cattle help reduce land degradation, desertification and soil erosion and maintain more than 50% of Australia’s landscape

 Love these infographics which you can find here

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I don’t know.  I just have a gut feeling this mentality typifies what is wrong with the world or at the very least wrong with some bizarre sub group of Australians

Adam Goodes is an Australian of the Year –  to me a man who actually stands for something

Should not expect our sport stars – our heroes – anybody in the public eye – anybody in fact to just ‘suck it up’ when somebody says something or does something vile?

We seem quite happy to forgive footballers who throw punches in bars when some idiot says something stupid but when a very special man takes a stand the right way he is persecuted.

Having watched football from the sidelines, seen some pretty nasty things happen even at schoolboy games and sat in too many hospital emergency rooms with family members I must admit football of any code has lost its appeal to me.

The last game I started to watch I walked away from before the kick-off – after the disgraceful crowd behaviour during the 1 minute silence for Ron Clarke 

I hadn’t watched the Adam Goodes indigenous celebration dance that apparently polarised the nation until today

Seriously Australia – we got upset about this

When I watch our young people booing in the stands for whatever reason it saddens me that parents think encouraging this type of culture is setting a good example.

To me Adam Goodes actions when he identified the young girl in the crowd  was a wakeup call fro parents  that this type of behavoir ishould not be tolerated That it hurts and its wrong

Please Australia stand up for what is right. I am with Jeremy Stanford on this one

This is where our country is at. White society is still so removed from our Indigenous brothers and sisters that when Lewis Jetta and Adam Goodes perform a war dance in a game of football we can only see division. We can’t embrace it like the Kiwis embrace the haka before a game of rugby. It becomes a threat because it’s not a version of what white players have traditionally done and therefore it’s unacceptable. It’s a statement.

When I saw Goodes perform his dance for the first time I was dazzled. Rather than just lining up at the start of the game and honouring the concept of an Indigenous round, this man had actually treated us to some culture.

It broke my heart that it caused controversy rather than deliver enchantment. It meant that we couldn’t truly turn the Indigenous round over to the indigenous players, we had to lend it to them on the condition that they behaved like white players. Sound familiar?

Tom Wills is widely attributed to be the father of our game. As a kid growing up in western Victoria he learnt Marngrook with the local Indigenous kids and even spoke their language. It’s inconceivable that some of the game we play now doesn’t derive from that childhood experience, but it’s denied in our official story of the game.

To me this is telling. As a culture, we still haven’t learnt to embrace the Indigenous one. It’s still separate. We’ll give on our terms, appreciate on our terms, but when it’s not on our terms, we turn on it.

I’d be happy to see every Indigenous player from now on perform the war dance every time they kick a goal.

Source 

Cartoon Source

Some reflections from around the nation – We all know and admire the Haka why not one of our own 

Some sobering thoughts from Stan Grant here

This post is a reprint of an opinion piece by Angus Taylor MP that appeared in The Land in June 2015

It’s very impressive and I am sure The Land won’t mind me reprinting it

The solar power industry should be treated differently to wind in the review process of the Renewable Energy ­Target, says Liberal MP Angus Taylor, and has an important role to play in rural Australia.

OPINION: GOVERNMENTS hampered the mining industry with taxes, costs and slow approvals. Now the farming sector is set to take off, we must help, not hinder it.

Five years ago I took the tools and techniques I had used as a consultant since the early 2000s to forecast growth in global demand for minerals and energy, and applied it to agriculture. The insights were clear and remarkable. For decades I had heard about the sleeping giants of Asia, and the voracious appetite that would one day drive our farming sector. That dream is now becoming a reality.

“We need a shared picture of what is possible and real determination to get on with it across all stakeholders”

Global population growth is just the beginning. More important is the impact of rising wealth on calorie consumption, and the shift from carbohydrate-dominant diets towards proteins, oils, sugar, fruit and vegetables. All of this requires huge gains in production per unit of land and water, at a time when agricultural productivity is falling.

Asia – a population who values “safe and healthy” food and the integrity Australia offers in this space  

As the dollar drops, high international soft commodity prices are translating to higher Australian prices for beef, lamb, mutton, wool and some grains. Other commodities will follow, often with volatility. Australian produce is highly regarded in many Asian markets, if only for food safety reasons. And we have among the highest endowments of agricultural land and water per person in the world – China and India aren’t even close.

Despite the opportunity, we’ve let ourselves down before in the mining sector. We imposed cumbersome taxes, slow approvals and excessive costs on a sector that would face tougher times as prices dropped to sustainable levels (still well above historical trends). Poor policy at the peak has led to serious vulnerabilities, generating an unhelpful fracas about iron ore cartels. We can’t afford to make the same mistakes for soft commodities.

Capturing global agriculture opportunities requires diverse “clusters” of participants to mobilise, overcoming the unavoidable fragmentation of agriculture. Farmers, processors, bulk handlers, ports, researchers, consultants, accountants, traders, marketers and all levels of government need to seize the day. Attempts to centralise will not work. Instead we need a shared picture of what is possible and real determination to get on with it across all stakeholders.

Government is only part of the picture, but its role matters. We need to improve and protect access to markets, by reducing trade and non-trade barriers, reducing economic costs, mobilising new relationships and supporting strengthened brands and supply chains. This has been the government’s priority in the past two years, and the results are clear.

Government can also facilitate investment in crucial infrastructure: water, transport, processing and telecommunications. The 500 new mobile phone towers announced last week and reprioritisation of the national broadband network (including the launch of two new satellites), are important steps in this direction. So too were the recently announced water and transport infrastructure initiatives in northern Australia, which remains an enormous opportunity for Australian agriculture.

Serving regional areas with quality supply chains and infrastructure is tough, not just because of the huge land areas. Natural monopolies are common, thwarting trust and investment. Targeted, effective competition policy is crucial, as are clever business structures. Across the Tasman we see the Kiwis’ global domination of the dairy sector driven by a major farmer-owned co-operative; we should take note and likewise consider clever structures that foster farmer self-reliance.

A serious “agtech” sector is ours for the taking. Innovation has always been the life blood of Australian agriculture. With accelerating improvements in genetics, GPS, remote sensing and “big data”, much depends on timely commercialisation and utilisation of our ideas. The government’s food and agricultural growth centre will encourage more private sector involvement in research and development, alongside $750 million a year in current funding.

Direct investment in farms and farmers is crucial, particularly given the rapid growth of debt, just as the pace of farm succession intensifies.

Better risk management products will help, particularly in times of drought, such as multi-peril risk insurance for grain producers.

Some of the investment in agriculture will come from offshore. This is essential and shouldn’t frighten us if motives are sound, taxes are paid and monopolies are avoided. The truth is that offshore investors will fail without strong local management with serious skin in the game.

Our biggest gap is on the human capital side, with a real need for farmers to develop new skills in business management, exploiting new technologies and aligning farm enterprises with fast-growing new markets. Attracting and developing talented agricultural entrepreneurs is more important than ever, in a sector with long and proud history of entrepreneurship.

All studies of wealth creation tell us that when opportunity really knocks, you have to open the door with gusto. In Australian agriculture, opportunity is knocking.

Angus Taylor is the federal member for Hume. He was a partner at McKinsey & Co and Port Jackson Partners.