Page 31 - ACV Journal DECEMBER 2015

News
YOUTH AG COUNCIL (YAC) 2015
Matt Petersen
Generally, we ‘scientists’ like to stick to what we know, the facts. However,
at YAC, I dared step from this world into the realm of politics. With a
traditional evidence based education, I was out of my depth. However, this
is why I attended the 2-day event. To summarize what I now know of policy
creation, it seems we go one of two ways. The ideal way - evidence based
policy. This is where a review of all the evidence about a certain issue is
done, then policy is created based on that evidence. When switching to the
dark side, a place our political system appears to frequent, there is a switch
to policy based evidence. This involves creating policy, then cherry picking
evidence to support the policy. A good example of this is the Murray Darling
Basin Plan. Returning water to the environment to improve the health of the
ecosystem is a highly politically driven action, not scientific.
What evidence do I have of the latter process of policy development? It
came from a few of the catch cries I learnt from YAC.
• “Politics beats data. Even with the best facts, science will often
not win the day. Another person with less data, but a more
convincing argument, will win the day.”
• “Good politics is that art of the possible. Don’t let perfect get in
the way of possible.”
I learnt a lot about politics in the 2 days I was at YAC, enough to tell you
that it’s a complicated beast! My take home message is that you need
good evidence, and to get as many people on side as possible to ensure
it wins the popular vote.
At risk of boring you, I won’t discuss policy. Rather I am going to give you
the top 3 most exciting things happening in agriculture now and my top
5 opinions I have from YAC.
The top 3 most exciting things about agricultures future:
1. The aim is to grow Australia’s agriculture farm gate value from
it’s current $48 billion to $100 billion by 2030. This will take our
current capacity of feeding 70 million people to 150-250 million
people. The red meat and dairy industries are major growth areas
in the coming 15 years.
2. Digitization project - Early overseas evidence suggest digital
technology can significantly improve farm gate returns. Based
on this, the NFF & Future Farmers Network are in the process
www.ava.com.au/cattle
of creating an online ‘farmer dashboard’ with a 3rd party
(who’s name I missed). The project has the backing of Apple
and Google and a budget of around $20 million. It will draw
data from various sources including NBN satellites, Bureau of
Meteorology, market reports, news reports and social media.
The data collected from the NBN satellites is being calibrated
to predict pasture growth, nitrogen requirements and potentially
even soil moisture. This will enable farmers and advisors to be
highly informed, active and responsive to issues as they arise.
3. Based off the “Pure NZ” model, where all New Zealand exports
are under one brand, Australia is creating it’s own “True Aussie”.
This will enable increased brand recognition and traceability as
the brand will have a QR code in it. This will be a huge competitive
advantage to the 16 different export brands we currently have
which are reportedly counterfeited the day after release.
Here are my top 5 opinions from YAC:
1. There is an enormous group of highly motivated young folk in
agriculture who are ready to produce food and fibre for a global
population of 10 billion by 2050.
2. Free trade agreements are good providing we can capitilise
on them. It is imperative we grow additional markets outside
Australia as this will provide the most opportunity for prices
to improve.
3. Collaboration and unity is extremely important. The agricultural
sector is currently very segmented, and this leads to many
groups with small membership bases. Going forward, the ACV
and its members need to strengthen alliances with the peak
bodies like the Australian Farmers Federation and the Future
Farmers Network. We have a lot to offer these groups. I would
suggest the ACV consider taking an observer seat at the NFF.
4. Increasing productivity, welfare and biosecurity are all paramount
to growing the livestock value, and this is where vets are vital.
We need to lead the way.
5. Beyond increasing farm gate returns, which has a knock on effect
to service industries, there will be a huge opportunity to export
skills to the Asian market. Take Rob Bonanno for example…
The Australian Cattle Veterinarian | volume 77 | December 2015 31