Championing farming
A YOUNG Dirranbandi student has her sights set on changing the perception of agriculture and farmers in urban communities.
Lauren Crothers from Booligar recently joined eight other young people in the dairy country around Jamberoo, New South Wales, for the first workshop for Art4Agriculture 2012 Young Farming Champions.
The program's national director Lynne Strong said the Young Farming Champions would give students a presentation about their farm, career and industry.
"We understand most metropolitan schools won't be able to organise an excursion to a farm as part of their participation in the Archibull Prize," she said.
"So to support their agricultural studies and create connections with real people in the industry we introduced the Young Farming Champions program to send farmers and young people with careers in agriculture, into schools instead."
The champions will provide technical information about the food or fibre industry the students are studying and answer any questions the students have as they prepare their Archibull Prize entry.
"The Young Farming Champions have an enormous impact on the schools they visit," Ms Strong said.
"Many metropolitan students have never met a farmer and love the opportunity to meet someone, not much older than them, with a career in the sector."
The Young Farming Champions spent the weekend in Jamberoo learning about the aims of the program, honing their public speaking and engagement skills, learning how to craft a memorable message and handling difficult conversations or questions about their chosen industry.
They also started crafting their presentations about their chosen industry and giving consideration to the structure of their videos.
Miss Crothers said the weekend was one of the most enjoyable she's had this year.
"It provided the opportunity to meet with like-minded individuals who share a common interest, inspiring the people of Australia and encouraging them to be part of the amazing agricultural industry," she said.
The Young Farming Champions are now working on their videos and industry presentations prior to meeting again in August to review their progress.
They will visit their allocated schools in metropolitan Brisbane and Sydney in September.
Other Queensland 2012 Young Farming Champions include Kylie Stretton from Charters Towers (beef industry) and Bronwyn Roberts from Emerald (natural resource management /beef).
