THE National Farmers’ Federation has continued to reinforce its relatively new direct links to horticulture with organisation president, Fiona Simson addressing Hort Connections 2018 last week.
Ms Simson said since the announcement of the Horticulture Council last year, there had been good progress in engaging the NFF with horticulture albeit through “one foot at a time and building trust”.
”Horticulture is so diverse but at the end of the day when we sit around the table, there is so much we can agree on,” Ms Simson said.
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She spoke on the changing nature of farm advocacy, showing a photograph from 1985 of 45,000 farmers rallying outside what is now Old Parliament House on the first day of a tax summit.
”Many of the farmers I talk to reflect on this bygone era. But is there a better way to do it?,” she said.
Ms Simson said e-advocacy was the new way.
“Farm aggregation means fewer core supporters. The internet has made it possible for niche anti-farming groups to wield disproportionate influence,” she said.
”What we now need is agility. Processes that are agile. Processes that can get outcomes for our members.”
Getting farmers telling their stories to, and engaging with, the wider community was also a positive area that needed further exploration, according to Ms Simson.
“In agriculture, we're very good at talking to each other… but we don't look to talk to other people in the community as much as we should,” she said.
Ms Simson said retaining people in regional areas was not necessarily about quantity but quality.
"We want to keep those people but more importantly we want confidence,” she said.
“We want people who are passionately excited about agriculture, about the future of agriculture and want to have a career in agriculture.”
