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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Farmers Speak Out “ For generations, Australian farmers have been presented new ideas on how we are going to feed the world
Surgeons, pilots, teachers, builders, and bankers would leave their professions in droves. And these industries suffer and perhaps eventually collapse. This idea is not about farmers whinging for more money. For the world’s oldest industry, however, this long term labour problem becomes an existential one for the entire human race. And farmers can- not solve it on their own.” Barry Large, Chairman of Grain Produ-
into the future. Some of them are what you might call blue sky. This, to a degree, is fine but not at the cost of ideas that are practical for solving real problems for farmers today. Ultimately, like most pro- fessions, agriculture is a human activity. No matter how sophisticated an agricul- tural technology is, much like the next generation submarines that will be based here on the coast of my home state of Western Australia, there will always be a need for a competent farmer to install, operate, and maintain it. While these implementation issues generally seem to be recognised by most in the agricul- tural industry, the elephant in the room I feel is the related challenge of actually attracting young people to work on the farm to ensure its viability for decades to come. With so many options available for our coun- try’s youth, especially mining here on the west coast, we as a nation need to be think- ing more about a sustainable workforce into the future. And this largely boils down to one simple universal idea: farmer incomes and their impact on farmer quality of life. The reality is that farming is getting harder and returns are, given various economic forces, diminishing for many farmers year on year. Imagine if this was happening in the healthcare sector. Or aviation. Or finance. Or education. Or construction.
cers Australia. Barry has been running a farming property in the Northern WA Wheatbelt over the past 30-years grow- ing hay, cereals, lupins, and oilseeds.
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