I must be living under a rock because until yesterday I didn’t know that 2012 is the Year of the Farmer. Sponsored by Elders, the Year of the Farmer board is impressive. Included are Deb Bain (Wool & sheep meat producer and Farm Day instigator, Vic), Geoff Bell (NSW), Bill Belotti (agronomist, NSW), Philip Bruem (dairying, NSW), David Cussens (journalist with a cropping background, WA), Katrina Hobbs (horticulture & livestock, Qld) and Maria Lally (cropping & livestock, SA).
However there’s a glaring omission on the Year of the Farmer board. Get a map of Australia out and draw a line from Bundaberg (Qld) to Kojonup (WA). It is blindingly obvious that apart from Tassie, the bottom of eastern and southern Australia is well represented, however there’s not a single board member from the region that comprises more than half the continent. And apart from the board member from Forbes (NSW), nor is there a member from anywhere more than a relative rock throw from the coast – all are from relatively closely settled areas.
Obviously the Year of the Farmer board includes members from different industries to represent a healthy cross section of different types of primary production and it would be unworkable to have a representative from every single agricultural enterprise. However it is very odd that there is no-one on the Year of the Farmer board from the top half of Australia, representing tropical agriculture of any type – from bananas to sugarcane, pineapples, mangoes etc; let alone cotton, rice and other summer-grown crops. Particularly glaring is the omission of anyone representing the northern Australian cattle industry because Australian cattle stations are the largest in the world yet the least understood sector of Australian primary industry, due to the relative remoteness and distance from Australia’s largest population centres. Northern cattle stations are not just larger versions of southern cattle farms; and they have the capacity to inspire and fascinate urban residents more than any other agricultural field.
As it stands, rather than it being ‘Year of the Farmer’, 2012 will be ‘Year of the southern Australian Farmer’ or ‘Year of the temperate climate farmer’.
I could think of some ideal, suitably qualified candidates from the rest of the Australian continent for the Year of the Farmer board, if they are interested in additions.
The Year of the Farmer in 2012 is the perfect opportunity to vaporise the myth that there are only 2 types of people, city residents and country residents, and illustrate the huge range of Australian agriculture from Tasmania to the tropics – Cape York and the Kimberleys. It would be a tragedy to miss this golden opportunity, and only concentrate on the types of Australian agriculture that people are most likely to be somewhat familiar with already.
Tags: Living in the country and remote areas, Australian Beef Industry, Image of the bush, Australian agriculture