The importance of agriculture in Central Queensland will be in the spotlight this week with a free Rockhampton CBD sausage sizzle to celebrate the inaugural National Ag Day tomorrow and a special Politics in the Pub forum at the Criterion Hotel on Wednesday night.
AgForce Central Queensland Regional Manager Sharon Purcell said agriculture was one of the foundations of the Central Queensland economy, and National Ag Day was an opportunity to celebrate and be proud of the industry.
“It’s fitting to be celebrating National AgDay in Rockhampton as the Fitzroy region is the biggest beef producing area in Australia with 2.6 million head of cattle, while we also have significant grain, cotton and horticultural production,” she said.
“The AgForce team will be in the East Street Mall from 11.30am to 2pm tomorrow handing out farm facts flyers and providing a free sausage sizzle to say thank you to locals for all their support of our farming families and everyone involved in the agricultural supply chain.
“We’ll also be releasing AgForce’s State Election policy scorecard tomorrow rating the political parties on how much they have addressed primary producers’ priorities to support rural families, protect our land and water, grow agriculture and better connect Queensland.”
Ms Purcell said the Politics in the Pub forum would provide an opportunity for local political candidates to outline their plans to help drive agriculture forward.
“Demand for our high quality food and fibre is growing but for Queensland agriculture to achieve its full potential, we need governments to adopt the right policy settings so farmers can get on with the job of feeding our state, our country and consumers across the world,” she said.
“Regional Queensland is in focus perhaps more than ever before in this State Election and Central Queensland voters in particular will have a huge role in shaping our next State Government.
“The free forum AgForce is hosting in Rockhampton promises to be an interesting and informative event and I encourage anyone with an interest in agriculture to come along to hear what the political aspirants have to say and throw them some questions of your own.”
The Politics in the Pub forum will be held at the Criterion Hotel, 150 Quay Street, Rockhampton, from 7pm on Wednesday 22 November 2017.
