By CAITLIN CROWLEY
THE NEXT generation of agricultural leaders must be included in all levels of industry advocacy and decision-making, according to the president of Queensland’s peak farming lobby group.
Agforce president Georgie Somerset used her address to the Rural Press Club of Queensland on National Agriculture Day to call for strategic investment in advocacy and an “intergenerational weaving of wisdom”, starting with a focus on relationships within and across industries connected to farming.
Somerset told the 200-strong crowd it was important to build a “regional ecosystem” and for communities to draw strength from those relationships.
“If I think about advocacy in terms of farming, I think about the fact that we don’t just go out and plant one seed, we don’t fertilise one row,” Somerset (pictured) said.
“We look after the whole crop, the whole herd, the whole flock. To grow advocacy, we’re going to need to grow relationships, we need to grow our connections, and we need to share that advocacy with others.”
Somerset said successful advocacy required a “laser-like focus” and that trying to do everything wasn’t sustainable, but people could think about ways to invest their time, talent or treasure (money).
“I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes it’s exhausting, hard and disillusioning,” she said.
“And there’s been years when I have stayed full time on the farm. I haven’t been doing this the whole time. You take breaks, you have different seasons.
“We can’t all do what I do. But we can choose to invest.
“We need that investment more than ever now. We’ve got unscientific, ideological headline-grabbing claims made about our industry and we need to be really strong as an industry to start to stand against that.
“It’s as big a decision to choose not to invest in advocacy as it is to choose to invest in it.”
Somerset said advocacy started with “sowing seeds for the future” at our schools and universities and “being ready for the harvest” with workplaces of choice.
“We need to be ready to manage diverse teams, we have to have businesses ready for expansion, innovation and investment,” she said.
Somerset shared her experience of approaching the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) as a 21 year old to have agritourism included under the NFF banner.
By then Somerset had established two industry bodies in Queensland after first-hand experience opening her family’s sheep station to tourists as an “ambitious teenager”.
She was also the first media officer for what’s now the Queensland Rural, Regional and Remote Women’s Network.
Somerset shared fond memories of sending media releases via fax at off-peak times to save money, and helping establish what is now the internationally recognised Day of Rural Women.
“There’s nothing quite like the experience of growing your own crop, breeding your own flock and herd – nothing replaces experience,” she said.
“And that’s what I got in that network – I got the experience of crafting the message and delivering it.
“What stands out for me though, beyond those relationships, the opportunities I got and experience I had was they trusted someone in their mid 20s to be their advocate.
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“And I look at that now and think it’s quite extraordinary and so I feel it’s beholden on me now to ensure our current young people get a seat at the table, literally.”
Somerset, who also sits on the board of the ABC, said she was passionate about mentoring and investing in the future generation.
“It’s my turn to let them run with their ideas, to deliver on the project to meet the minister and be the advocate,” she said.
“What future will our industry have if we don’t give them the head-start, if we don’t pass on our wisdom and give them the lessons and skills that we’ve worked hard to have?”
While Somerset praised the number of networking and leadership opportunities available to young people now, she cautioned against situations where they ended up being siloed and excluded from what she called the “main arena”.
“I believe the critical thing now is that they don’t remain in that paddock but that they get into the main arena and we we really embed the intergenerational weaving of wisdom, to ensure that young people are not considered the young people, they’re just our leaders.”
The theme of this year’s National Ag Day was ‘Grow You Good Thing’ and Somerset urged the audience to think about how they could grow their relationships and advocacy in the year ahead.
