2012 TFGA conference

The year 2012 has been designated the Australian Year of the Farmer (AYOF) and is, therefore, the theme of the next TFGA Conference to be held on July 11-13 at Country Club Tasmania in Launceston.

Essentially, the AYOF sets out to draw Australia’s rural and urban communities together by creating a broad awareness of the role that agriculture plays in our everyday lives. Yes, some children still believe that milk comes from the supermarket. Others just take their daily bread for granted.

So the purpose is to celebrate the successes of our clever farmers; educate those in the cities and towns about the range and quality of the produce our farmers grow and harvest; to explain the innovations we have adopted that make us world leaders in farming; to promote our role as environmental managers in the harshest continent on Earth; and to detail the essential role of Tasmanian and Australian agriculture in securing food for the world.

In Tasmania’s case, AYOF will be a vehicle to enable non-farmers to understand the role of science and modern infrastructure in our agricultural industries. The key is water. Although Tasmania has less than one per cent of Australia’s landmass, it has 14 per cent of its water. But to be useful, that water has to be accessible to our farmers. That is what the current series of new irrigation schemes is all about. We have to produce the combination of water, highly arable land, sunshine and people. Our task would be made much easier if everybody understood the costs and the benefits of farming at peak efficiency in a state that is blessed with
natural resources for farming.

It is important we all realise the contribution that farmers make. It’s not just a matter of fresh fruit and vegetables, dairy products, grains, meat, eggs, wool, cotton and timber. It's the whole package. Running a successful farming business is not a fluke or a birthright. It is a matter of constant vigilance to the climate and to markets; it is a matter of being flexible and diversifying where necessary; it is a matter of forward planning.

The modern Tasmanian farmer has to be a jack or jill of all trades and be able to master all of them. Meanwhile, the growth area in agricultural employment is in related professions and trades, from accountancy, the law, administration and the media to the agricultural and veterinary sciences. Farmers make a substantial contribution to the Tasmanian economy and employment: about $6 billion to gross state product and accounting for one job in every six.

During the Australian Year of the Farmer, we shall be doing all we can to promote agriculture and its wider appreciation. Our annual conference will be the keystone in that bridge.

2012 Conference - Year Of the Farmer