Ag biosecurity, community education are priorities ag students

With a foot and mouth disease and lumpy skin disease outbreaks in Indonesia putting Australian agriculture on red alert, organisers of next week's AgQuip field days declared overseas travellers recently back from visiting our near northern neighbour were unable to attend the big showcase in North West NSW.

Rural and regional advocate, Robbie Sefton, said it was no surprise major events in country locations were taking extra precautions given the current situation in Indonesia.

She said the sector's uneasy mood on biosecurity was reflected at a recent agriculture industry event she attended at the University of New England.

Ms Sefton was a speaker at a Farming Futures function at Armidale, attended by more than 300 guests, many of them studying agriculture at the university.

She used the presentation to conduct a short audience participation straw poll to gauge attendees thoughts on what agriculture needed to do to help it achieve its $100 billion a year farmgate productivity goal by 2030.

"On the question of the most critical issues needing addressing in the push towards that $100b vision, 56 per cent of respondents identified biosecurity as the highest priority," she said.

"That's not so surprising given the current FMD situation in Indonesia and the varroa mite outbreak facing our bee industry,

"But it's also a certain indication that Australia's current relatively 'clean' status when it comes to pests and disease is viewed as one of our biggest assets.

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Ms Sefton, whose own farming and communications industry background has spread to directorships on the Great Barrier Reef Authority and the High Performance Soils Co-operative Research Centre, said climate change rated as the next highest priority at 38pc.

Workforce and labour challenges (36pc) and water availability, costs and policy (30pc) were seen as the next most critical issues.

One survey comment noted how workforce challenges and water availability must be addressed in order "for rural communities to survive and to encourage more young people into agriculture by promising a future".

The audience was also asked for thoughts on the awareness and understanding of all Australians of the agriculture industry, and how important that was if the industry was to maintain its current economic trajectory.

An overwhelming 95pc of respondents agreed it was vital to lift the awareness of Australians in non-farming communities around agriculture and its importance to the wider community and the national economy.

Ms Sefton said the question was prompted by National Farmers Federation research finding 83pc of Australians described their connection with ag as "distant or non-existent".

"Figures like this tell a very important story and identify real opportunities for agriculture," she said.

"There's no overnight solution to this issue, but what is clear is that increasing community understanding of agriculture's critical role in our society will benefit the whole industry, from helping to protect our current biosecurity status to encouraging consumption of more Australian-grown products," she said.

"One of our respondents believed education around the agriculture industry should be mandatory in all schools and peak industry bodies should take a lead role.

"Another said 'having people champion and support agriculture comes from being exposed to it and understanding how it works, and the practicalities'."

Ms Sefton was impressed by the audience responses on rural sector leadership.

"I asked students if they had considered the importance of their 'personal brand' and leadership style when it came to their career, and how it might affect their future career path," she said.

"I'm not sure what kind of response I expected to receive, 88pc said they had considered it, which surprised me a bit.

"I think the self-awareness of young people today is a lot higher than it was, 20 years or even 10 years ago.

"Leadership is so important to maintaining agriculture's momentum, so if our future leaders are already thinking about what they can bring to the table, then that's an enormous positive."

One respondent said "personal brand" affected "your employability, plus your ability to lead and influence others", while another noted, "how you present yourself to the industry and the wider community is just as important as the quality of work you put into your career, and it's a factor many overlook".

The top three qualities in an effective leader were identified as accountability (44pc), passion/purpose/commitment (35pc) and strong communication (29pc)

"'Empowering people is the key to great leadership," Ms Sefton said.

"You can't have all the knowledge so we need to surround ourselves with people who do have the knowledge."

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