I have found there are two main types of people in agriculture and this of course is generalisation
There are people who are focussed on doing the right thing and people who predominately want to do their own thing and of course there are some people who manage to get a nice balance between the two (most impressive).
I find this in our business. My husband and my son love farming, they like the solitude, they love their cows and they hate the politics. They just want to do their own thing and they worry about me and cant understand and hate the fact I put myself out there and ride the ridges and sometimes get shot out.
So I get this mindset and you wont change people like my husband and son but I cant forgive industry bodies who cant see why the big picture is so important. Who cant see why silo thinking is destroying agriculture
Recently I have become actively involved in the AgChatOZ LinkedIn discussion group and must admit I am fascinated by the two way conversations and other people opinions and most importantly the thought they have put into the solutions and what they think the solutions are. The current active discussions are
Julia Hausler posted this question this morning
So we do have a rural urban divide and it does matter. (refer earlier discussions). What are YOU going to do about it?
John Keily can back with
What am I going to do? Well, I’m going to ask you what you think of this ad
and I replied (BTW my previous comment on the ad here )
It generated this
Whilst the first video reached over 15 million people (compared to 35,000 for the spoof version ) and over $1Million was donated by RAMs to feed the poor together they highlight the polarising views in America
To me its imperative Agriculture doesn’t preach at people. Charlie Arnot and his team are doing an awesome job of doing it the right way by providing farmers with the skills sets to tell their own story.
Australian farmers have a great story to tell and its time to say YES to the Australian Centre for Food Integrity so we know how to tell our story well. Not just for 90 seconds at the Superbowl. We want our story remembered everytime our consumers reach for a product on the supermarket shelf and take that little bit of extra time to make sure it was produced by an Aussie Farmer
What really makes me cranky is. Why doesn’t Australian agriculture do this together?
MLA through Target 100 is telling the story and very impressively on behalf of all cattle and sheep farmers.
AWI and Cotton Australia are working together to debunk the myth that cotton grows on sheep. See here for this great example
Dairy Australia on the other hand is spending $21 million plus on the Legendairy campaign to tell dairy’s story
Yes your are right Dairy Australia
The Australian dairy industry has a magnificent and Legendairy™ tale to tell. This is an industry underpinned by some of the best people and practices in the world producing a truly amazing product. It defines the social fabric of many Australian agricultural regions and affects the lives of almost every Australian in some way.
The nation’s dairy industry is literally brimming with inspirational people and their stories — Legendairy™.
Yes and so do all Australian farmers. Our dairy farmers rely on the grains industry, the vegetable industry, the cotton industry, the sugar industry, the list is endless. They rely on agriculture being dynamic, exciting, innovative and profitable. Its not a competition about which industry has the most impressive farmers.
Just imagine what we could achieve if Dairy Australia joined forces with MLA for example. I am an MLA levy payer as are all dairy farmers. MLA invited me to tell my story. I haven’t yet. I haven’t needed to – the beef farmers are doing on awesome job on my behalf. I salute them all.
Call to arms farmers. We can do our own thing but we cant afford to let industry do it in isolation. We must all ask the right questions and lobby hard for the greater good. Its not just our future that depends on it. Australia’s health, wealth and happiness depends on it
