The urban-rural divide does not serve farmers and it does not serve consumers. Australians generally value farmers, the original Aussie battlers. But when generations of people are disconnected from farming, they tend to create one of two ideas about who farmers are. In their minds, we are either the idealised farmer milking by hand, or we are villains who use and abuse animals for economic gain.
Moreover, when people aren’t connected to farming, they can’t evaluate for themselves the practices of farmers. They are easily manipulated by powerful lobby groups that misrepresent farmers, particularly when it comes to animal welfare. Clearly, neither the stereotypes nor the falsehoods shared by lobby groups are true. The modern reality is that farmers are a diverse group of business people who embrace technological change, who care for their land, care for their animals, and ultimately want to produce safe, high quality food.
The increasing burden of rural rates on farmers is a big problem that we have been talking about a lot recently. Farmers are the first ones to suffer, but eventually, higher rates will become everyone’s problem. It is basic economics; when production prices rise, the price of food will also rise.
So at the Victorian Farmers Federation, we’re trying to find more ways to bridge the divide between farming and non-farming communities. There are annual events like the AFL Country Round in May and Heart of Victoria dinner next week on the June 28 that we’re proud to be involved in.
However, we also want to spend more time talking to urban communities in the lead up to the 2018 State Election. Many of our key election issues such as energy security, functional roads, biosecurity, and pest management are incredibly important to farmers. But they should also be important to non-farmers.