Young Farmers Advisory Council meet to discuss industry issues

Going into his second term as Young Farmers Advisory Council chair, Clay Gowers, a cropper from Carwarp said the first meeting marked the beginning of the groups three-year term, as they worked together to communicate industry issues to government.

"Our first meeting was mainly a meet and greet, with the next step to align things and come up with something really strong, and tangible to start implementing," Mr Gowers said.

Ten members make up the council, from apiarists, to beef producers and market garden growers, with deputy chair Amabel Grinter, a dairy farmer from Tongala.

2023 Young Farmers Advisory Council members:

A key concern for members that came up during their first meeting was tackling difficulty with succession plans, a common entry or step up for people into the industry, as Mr Gowers said they hoped to look more into this during their follow up meetings.

"The new generation of farmers are looking for more certainty, they're wanting something more certain and when the talk of succession comes up, the older generation don't want to talk about it," he said.

"We're only an advisory board and not a decision making board, but if there's topical issue or any ideas from government, we can spread that information through our networks and if there's people in our areas that need help, we can take it to government."

Another key topic was a need for more young farmer network groups and numerous other issues to report back to government on where there may be a need for support.

Formed by the government in 2015, the group stands to retain and bring in young people in the industry through the ambassadors of the council, tackling topics that are relevant to agriculture professionals, like mental health support, climate change and advancing training and education.