Farming
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wilful
Larry Dwyer (12)
This new FTA with China is being lauded as good news, particularly in the Murdoch rags, and particularly for the dairy industry, but this is a scenario that is now even more likely to happen:
A Chinese government owned company will buy prime agricultural land for a dairy "farm" of many thousands of cows. The cows will all be permanently shedded, often in pens, and will be fed hay/silage/grain from the farm or trucked in. They wont ever be allowed out to move around the paddock because this wastes energy. Farm workers will be shipped in directly from China and paid Chinese wages to work on the farm. Milk will be processed in Chinese owned factories and then flown direct to China.
There are so many things wrong with this scenario I don't know where to begin. But this is quite likely in the not too distant future for all the major dairy areas of Australia.
Not a partisan thing, I'm sure the ALP would have given us the same deal, but jesus christ on a stick what is our government doing?
A Chinese government owned company will buy prime agricultural land for a dairy "farm" of many thousands of cows. The cows will all be permanently shedded, often in pens, and will be fed hay/silage/grain from the farm or trucked in. They wont ever be allowed out to move around the paddock because this wastes energy. Farm workers will be shipped in directly from China and paid Chinese wages to work on the farm. Milk will be processed in Chinese owned factories and then flown direct to China.
There are so many things wrong with this scenario I don't know where to begin. But this is quite likely in the not too distant future for all the major dairy areas of Australia.
Not a partisan thing, I'm sure the ALP would have given us the same deal, but jesus christ on a stick what is our government doing?
ChargerWA
Mark Loane (55)
Source?
2 things. I'm pretty sure the FTA won't void Australian safe guards in regards to workers rights and government oversight regarding foreign ownership.
The other thing regarding permanent shedding of cows. We are moving in the right direction with regards to cage hens/stall pork. I can't see Australian society sitting idly by and accepting a backwards step for our dairy herds.
wilful
Larry Dwyer (12)
Charger, have a read of this article to believe that Chinese investors are coming, and the fact that keeping cows in sheds is the future, and they want to do it with Chinese workers. As for the FTA, while the details are kept secret, they are lifting all Chinese investment decision scrutiny for anything under $1Bn (except in defence, media, telecoms), and if you think this government gives a flying fuck about Australian workers, well I wouldn't know where to start.
wilful
Larry Dwyer (12)
And have a read of this if you want some personal insight: http://milkmaidmarian.com/2014/10/22/from-family-farm-to-corporate-farming-in-australia/#more-2950
(I'm not a dairy farmer myself, we have a sub-commercial beef herd).
(I'm not a dairy farmer myself, we have a sub-commercial beef herd).
boyo
Mark Ella (57)
Wheat crops could drop by 6 per cent for every degree of global warming
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-21/vic-wheat-drop/6031638
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-21/vic-wheat-drop/6031638
boyo
Mark Ella (57)
SUFC Player, Sam Johnston, involved in viral 'Thank a farmer' campaign
By Sophie Harris
Forbes Advocate
Next time you sit down for a meal, take the time to think about where it came from and all that went into putting it on your plate.
That’s the message former Forbes boy Sam Johnston hopes to spread through his social media campaign, ‘Thank A Farmer For Your Next Meal’.
A love of the land and a penchant for social media has inspired Johnston, son of local farmers Gary and Rosie Johnston, to create the successful campaign to promote farmers to the rest of the world.
The ‘Thank A Farmer For Your Next Meal’ campaign was developed by Johnston and his university mate Jim Honner back in July last year and has since grown to have nearly 11,000 likes on Facebook.
Both studying Agricultural economics at the University of Sydney, Johnston and Honner, decided to start up an Instagram page about agriculture where people can share their farming photos with the hashtag #thankafarmerforyournextmeal.
“It came from the idea that I was doing a Beaut Utes Instagram page which I started in year 12 because I enjoyed looking at photos of utes,” Johnston said.
“I thought social media is such a great tool to advocate things and so I got together with my mate and we decided to do something that had a bit more spread and reach and something more that people can relate to, so we decided to do a page about agriculture.”
After creating an Instagram account, Thank A Farmer For Your Next Meal then joined Facebook, where a photo a day is posted on the page.
Johnston said they get sent about five to 10 photos a day from people all over Australia, and even from overseas and of those photos they choose which ones to publish online.
“They’re pretty amazing,” Johnston said.
“We try to diversify it a bit, we don’t want all photos of sheep or cattle and we’re not out there to create a romantic idea of farming...we try to show drought and the harder times too.”
Photos on the page range from beautiful sunsets or rainbows to those depicting the dust and ploughing, and of course plenty of animals.
The main idea of the page is to show off the great work our farmers do, especially to those who may have never experienced it before.
“The main thing is to advocate farmers and show the rest of the world and city people what farmers achieve and the things they do for us,” Johnston said.
Johnston and Honner, who hails from Jugiong, are both country boys who have a passion for all things agriculture.
“It’s a big interest of both of ours - we enjoy farming and we think farmers don’t get enough recognition and support for everything they do,” Johnston said.
“We want to show the rest of the world how much of a good job our farmers do.”
When Thank A Farmer For Your Next Meal began to take off the boys started selling hats and stickers with the logo to promote the page even further and help raise awareness of what farmers do.
“People ask where you get your hat from and they say my mate has this Facebook page and it just spreads and spreads - you end up seeing a lot of people with those hats,” Johnston said. “We’ve just put 400 hats through for our next order.”
All profits from the merchandise goes back into buying more hats and stickers to further promote the cause, as well as into supporting other groups like the boys’ college rugby team who wear the logo.
“We just want to try and get it as big as we can and keep promoting and advocating what Australian farmers do, but not just Australian farmers - we get people sending in photos from New Zealand, England, Canada etc,” Johnston said.
The page can be found on Facebook and Instagram by searching ‘Thank A Farmer For Your Next Meal’.
For a link to the full article please click here.
By Sophie Harris
Forbes Advocate
Next time you sit down for a meal, take the time to think about where it came from and all that went into putting it on your plate.
That’s the message former Forbes boy Sam Johnston hopes to spread through his social media campaign, ‘Thank A Farmer For Your Next Meal’.
The ‘Thank A Farmer For Your Next Meal’ campaign was developed by Johnston and his university mate Jim Honner back in July last year and has since grown to have nearly 11,000 likes on Facebook.
Both studying Agricultural economics at the University of Sydney, Johnston and Honner, decided to start up an Instagram page about agriculture where people can share their farming photos with the hashtag #thankafarmerforyournextmeal.
“It came from the idea that I was doing a Beaut Utes Instagram page which I started in year 12 because I enjoyed looking at photos of utes,” Johnston said.
“I thought social media is such a great tool to advocate things and so I got together with my mate and we decided to do something that had a bit more spread and reach and something more that people can relate to, so we decided to do a page about agriculture.”
After creating an Instagram account, Thank A Farmer For Your Next Meal then joined Facebook, where a photo a day is posted on the page.
Johnston said they get sent about five to 10 photos a day from people all over Australia, and even from overseas and of those photos they choose which ones to publish online.
“They’re pretty amazing,” Johnston said.
“We try to diversify it a bit, we don’t want all photos of sheep or cattle and we’re not out there to create a romantic idea of farming...we try to show drought and the harder times too.”
Photos on the page range from beautiful sunsets or rainbows to those depicting the dust and ploughing, and of course plenty of animals.
The main idea of the page is to show off the great work our farmers do, especially to those who may have never experienced it before.
“The main thing is to advocate farmers and show the rest of the world and city people what farmers achieve and the things they do for us,” Johnston said.
Johnston and Honner, who hails from Jugiong, are both country boys who have a passion for all things agriculture.
“It’s a big interest of both of ours - we enjoy farming and we think farmers don’t get enough recognition and support for everything they do,” Johnston said.
“We want to show the rest of the world how much of a good job our farmers do.”
When Thank A Farmer For Your Next Meal began to take off the boys started selling hats and stickers with the logo to promote the page even further and help raise awareness of what farmers do.
“People ask where you get your hat from and they say my mate has this Facebook page and it just spreads and spreads - you end up seeing a lot of people with those hats,” Johnston said. “We’ve just put 400 hats through for our next order.”
All profits from the merchandise goes back into buying more hats and stickers to further promote the cause, as well as into supporting other groups like the boys’ college rugby team who wear the logo.
“We just want to try and get it as big as we can and keep promoting and advocating what Australian farmers do, but not just Australian farmers - we get people sending in photos from New Zealand, England, Canada etc,” Johnston said.
The page can be found on Facebook and Instagram by searching ‘Thank A Farmer For Your Next Meal’.
For a link to the full article please click here.
boyo
Mark Ella (57)
Young farmers rewrite NSW Farmers climate change policy
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-16/nsw-young-farmers-put-climate-change-on-agenda/6624996
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-16/nsw-young-farmers-put-climate-change-on-agenda/6624996
boyo
Mark Ella (57)
Goyder's Line moving south with climate change, SA scientists say, forcing farming changes
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-02/goyders-line-climate-change-wheat-wine-grapes/6919276
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-02/goyders-line-climate-change-wheat-wine-grapes/6919276
boyo
Mark Ella (57)
Climate farmers welcome Paris Agreement, call for more action from Australian Government
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-14/climate-farmers-welcome-paris-agreement/7026404
I've never understood the opposition to CC from certain sections of the community seeing as it has detrimental effects on agribusiness.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-14/climate-farmers-welcome-paris-agreement/7026404
I've never understood the opposition to CC from certain sections of the community seeing as it has detrimental effects on agribusiness.
Wheatman
Chris McKivat (8)
That hasn't been shown yet. I like Bill Gates take on it - calling it the 2 degree experiment. If it only changes climate, then most agribusiness should be able to deal with it. If it changes the weather, then that's a different story (and also in what way). Also consider that most farmers make their best money, when another farmer (area) is suffering. If it tightens supply, and it's not you hurting - happy days!
boyo
Mark Ella (57)
Young farmers return from history-making climate summit in Paris
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/ne...-summit-in-paris/story-fnkfnspy-1227645681643
http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/ne...-summit-in-paris/story-fnkfnspy-1227645681643
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