This year the 2017 Grand Champion Archibull Prize announcement partnered with National Agriculture Day. We celebrated #AgDay by celebrating the innovative teachers and students who, each year to showcase all the people who come together to put food on our plates, clothes on our backs and in some cases power our lives.

The agriculture sector is so much more than farmers and The Archibull Prize is the perfect opportunity to share with young people looking for a career that makes a difference that more than 80% of careers in agriculture are people who support farmers.

Just what would Australian agriculture look like in 20 years-time if all the bright young minds who have been introduced to agriculture through The Archibull Prize, choose to make agriculture part of their future. Here at Picture You in Agriculture we are pretty pumped by that thought

And the winners

Visit the 2017 Archibull Prize Hall of Fame here

GRAND CHAMPION ARCHIBULL – CALVARY CHRISTIAN COLLEGE CARBROOK CAMPUS

and with Costa

RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION ARCHIBULL – ST RAPHAELS CATHOLIC SCHOOL COWRA

and with Costa

CHAMPION PRIMARY SCHOOL – LITTLE BAY COMMUNITY OF SCHOOLS

and with Costa and Jane Thomas from Aussie Farmers Foundation

RESERVE CHAMPION PRIMARY SCHOOL – MILLER PUBLIC SCHOOL

and with Costa and Jane Thomas from Aussie Farmers Foundation

Everyone in the room walked away reinvigorated by the energy of our special guest Costa Georgiadis. Costa reached out and spoke to every child in the room. He touched each and everyone of us with his love for the planet, his respect for all the people who come together to ensure we are clothed and fed and his support for youth – the voices of the future

Blacktown Girls High School  took to twitter to engage the twitterverse to vote for their #Archie17 entry with posts like this “Cotton Belle” in deep cottonsation with the principal, Mr Lumb. He congratulates her on becoming a finalist.@archibull @FAotC @ONUS_Agronomy

Gobsmacked. Truly gobsmacked by the response to The Archibull Prize People’s Pick

Why a People’s Pick when we have an official judge of the #colourfulcows aka #beautbovines aka world renowned #Archie17.

The People’s Pick isnt just about finding out if the community agrees with the official judge its key objective is to provide an opportunity for the world to see the visionary agricultural theme Archie artworks

The students receive one of these

Yes they get a big white life-size cow and they get a farming industry, not just the cattle ( beef or dairy) industry, they may get the pork, or cotton, or wool or the grains  industry or maybe even the poultry/egg industry.

Often the students and teachers go shock horror how do we share the pork, egg, wool or cotton industry on a cow

Well that’s the challenge we ask the students to see Archie not as a cow but as a blank canvas

How they do this is mind-blowing and back to gobsmacked almost 185,000 people viewed the blog post poll asking them to vote for their favourite #Archie17. Yes you read it right one hundred and eighty five THOUSAND people have viewed the students artworks. More than 60,000 of those people voted and the word spread via 3000 plus Facebook share

From Day One it was clear two schools were the front runners. These two schools used multiple vehicle to crowd source. Beaudesert State High School tapped into their local paper the Beaudesert Times who did a brilliant job of getting the word out in print and online via videos and Facebook. In the end it is obvious the whole of Beaudersert supported their local school. Giving Beaudesert a run for their money was Blacktown Girls High School who had their local MP crowd source for them. Then the domino effect kicked in our supporting partners reached out to all their contacts.

Hunter Local Land Services tapped into ABC radio and they came onboard as only ABC Rural can getting the stories out to their listeners. The interviews started. They interviewed school young farming champions, the interviewed school, they showcased the Archies on Facebook. An Archie even became the header for their Facebook page.

The end result who one, well the answer is currently locked in a safe and you will have to wait until it is officially at The Archibull Prize Awards and Exhibition Day on November 21.

In reality the world has already told you who won and that’s every school won because the world has seen how creative and innovative Australian school students are

Imagine how much exposure the Australian agriculture sector would get if we had Imagine, if 20 schools and government agencies and forward-thinking businesses in each state partnered with our farming industries each year

That’s 10,000-young people in each state, that’s 70,000-young people across Australia who could be inspired to be stewards for the landscape and the agricultural sector.

That’s our big opportunity how does the agriculture sector work together to engage with the bright, creative, innovative young people and expose them to the agriculture sector and inspire them to seek out a career in our sector

@archibull @art4agriculture @Ozfarmers #Archie17 #AgDay #beautbovines #colourfulcows #youthinag #youthinedu #farming #farmers #agriculture

       Not joining the 160 people celebrating National Ag Day by attending The Archibull Prize Awards and Exhibition Day you too can celebrate National Ag Day. Visit the website here to find out how

Its official. The  Pick Your Favourite Archie to Win the 2017 Archibull Prize is now our most read blog post ever. With 50,000 plus views and over 2.7K Facebook shares the students artworks are being admired and appreciated by readers all over the world

Shout out to ABC Country Hour for your support and Kudos to Hunter LLS for your very impressive media contacts

ABC Country Hour now have an Archie as their Facebook Header 

 

and you thought The Archibull Prize was an art competition, right?

Well yes and no. One of the strengths of the program is that it involves multiple Key Learning Areas so if a student is not necessarily interested in art they can join the fun through other subjects.

History, geography, maths, technical and applied studies, engineering and food technology are some of the other subject areas involved perfecting the Archies you see before you today.

Journalism students have created blogs; technology and computer students have produced animations.

At Beaudesert State High School maths and engineering students contributed with electronics, computer programming and robotics to help their cow moo, swish her tail, change her eye colour and even emit tractor sou

Going above and beyond

One of the things that really amazes us about The Archibull Prize is how schools and students go above and beyond what we expect of them.

Teachers and students from Gwynneville Public School have stumbled into school in pre-dawn hours to be ready for excursions to farms.

Students from St Raphaels Catholic School Cowra have talked to CEOs.

Students teachers and parents have watched artificial insemination in dairy cows.

They have found out how hard it is to count sheep.

They have invited Indigenous groups into their school and learned Indigenous words, which they now use in tribute to the first people.

And at Blacktown Girls High, where they were studying cotton, they became involved with Share the Dignity with the help of their local politician. Share the Dignity is a charity that collects sanitary items for homeless women and women fleeing domestic violence. So what does this have to do with cotton? Well most sanitary items are made from cotton and the students quickly came to realise that cotton was so much more than wearing a shirt or a pair of jeans – it is used for our daily needs.

The Archibull Prize combining art, technology,education and #youthinag to empower our young people to work with the community and farmers to create the bright future we all deserve

 

As The Archibull Prize Awards and Presentation Day approaches, the People’s Pick poll gains further momentum across the world. 35,000 people from across the globe have viewed the blog and cast their vote

Currently Neck and Neck in the People’s Pick are Blacktown Girls High School and Beaudesert State High School. Make sure you get your vote in

Communities are making the most of the schools’ colourful cows as showstoppers at local events

Bovinity at Murrwillumbah Show this week 

Cotty at the college art’s showcase 

St Raphaels Catholic College celebrate with a photo opp

Its looking like ‘Bullinda’ will need a social secretary when she goes home 

And schools are collaborating to bring their artwork finalist Archies to Sydney. Shout out to Lisa Bullas and Calvary Christian College for hosting Bullinda from Beaudesert State High School and Graham Cheney and Kellyville High School for hosting Em-moo-ly  from Miller Public School

#archie17 #colourfulcows #beautbovines

Art4Agriculture is proud to announce the artwork finalists in the 2017 Archibull Prize.

2017 Artwork Finalists are

• Beaudesert State High School

• Blacktown Girls High School.

• Calvary Christian College Carbrook Junior School

• Calvary Christian College Carbrook Senior Campus

• Calvary Christian College Springwood Campus

• Glenhaven Public school

• Irrawang High School

• Kellyville High School

• Little Bay Community of Schools

• Miller Public School

• MLC Burwood

• Northlakes High School

• St Raphaels Catholic High School

This year we have a creative and innovative mix of Archies depicting drones, GPS systems, chicken caravans and baby’s cots just to mention a few. The Archies, as they are affectionately known have emerged from 30 schools across NSW, QLD and the ACT as students researched specific agricultural industries, and interpreted their findings in artwork and multi-media presentations. They explored issues such as biodiversity, climate change, water use and renewable energy.

With the support of the Aussie Farmers Foundation (AFF) and the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal we have been able to expand the program farming industry mix and offer the schools participating Grains, Eggs and Poultry, Pork, Dairy and Cattle and Sheep industries .

Support from Australian Wool Innovation, Cotton Australia and Cotton Research and Development Corporation has seen the students turn a cow canvas into a phenomenal fibre showcase

AFF Executive Officer Kylie Cirak said Art4Agriculture is an incredible way for young people to share their passion about the pivotal role Australian farmers play in feeding the world.

“Aussie Farmers Foundation is thrilled to partner with Art4Agriculture to help achieve our aim to support the sustainability of Australian farms,” she said.  “Agriculture is the lifeblood of Australia, and it’s in our best interest to nurture the nation’s future farmers, growers and agriculture specialists, and encourage them to consider this as an exciting and viable career option while they’re still in school.”

The Archibull Prize is an innovative school-based program designed to give young people the skills to connect farmers and the community, helping build a bright future for Australian agriculture. In 2017 the theme has been ‘feeding, clothing and powering a hungry nation is a shared responsibility’.

The artworks finalist will join finalists in the multimedia sections in Sydney for the 2017 Archibull Prize Awards and Exhibition day to be held at The Stables at Sydney Showground on 21 November, coinciding with Australia’s inaugural AgDay. Multiple cash prizes, up to $1,000, will be presented to the winners as well as the coveted title of Grand Champion Archibull.

Congratulations to all the schools involved you have all excelled

#archie17

@art4ag

@archibull

 

An 2017 Archibull Prize Finalists Update

it gives us great pleasure to announce the following schools that are finalists in the animation section of The Archibull Prize

•  The Henry Lawson High School from Grenfell, NSW,
• St Raphaels Catholic School Cowra NSW
• Little Bay Community of Schools from Chifley NSW
• Kellyville High School Sydney NSW St Raphaels Catholic School Cowra  NSW
• Gwynneville Public School Wollongong NSW
• Blacktown Girls High School in Sydney NSW

You can access them all on Youtube below

 

The Archibull Prize provides students with a life size fibreglass cow on which the students create an artwork using the theme “Feeding, clothing and powering a hungry nation is a shared responsibility. The program design also invites the students to be part of the solution by sharing their ideas on how to tackle these challenges as individuals, as a community and as the mums and dads of the next generation.

The program also matches Young Farming Champions (YFC), enthusiastic young people working within agriculture to each school. The YFC support the students and excite them about career prospects in the sector. – climate change, food and fashion waste, declining natural resources and biosecurity.

As part of the competition students also write a blog and create animations and infographics that show their knowledge of the issues facing agriculture and their call to action

The winners will be announced at The Archibull Prize Awards and Exhibition Day on November 21st 2017 coinciding with National Agriculture Day

 

Just got official notification that our blog post Pick Your Favourite Archie to Win the 2017 People’s Choice Award is trending on Facebook.

With close to 12,000 views and over 1000 Facebook shares in 24 hours on the blog alone Australia (and the world) has rallied en masse to support their favourite Archie and vote for the school to win this years People’s Choice at The Archibull Prize Awards

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The Archies -an absolute cornucopia of creativity, innovation and colour.

JOIN THOUSANDS OF AUSTRALIANS AND VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITE ARCHIE HERE

Voting closes at 5pm on November 17th 2017

 

There’s just two weeks left to apply for the new-look 2018 AgriFutures™ Rural Women’s Award. Emerging women leaders are encouraged to apply for Australia’s leading Award in acknowledging and supporting the essential role women play in rural and regional businesses, industries and communities.

If you’re a woman who wants to innovate and make a difference, or contribute to enhancing the prosperity of rural and regional Australia you should apply for this life-changing opportunity.

The Award, formerly the Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation (RIRDC) Rural Women’s Award, has been renamed and adapted to align with AgriFutures Australia’s new strategic direction on the changing face of Agriculture, where technology is transforming the sector and successful and impactful leaders are skilled, professional, dynamic, entrepreneurial, commercially savvy and connected.

“Over the past two decades, the Rural Women’s Award has provided more than 200 women with significant professional development opportunities and importantly the opportunity to achieve positive change for rural and regional Australia. Award winners have delivered diverse and innovative projects relating to rural and regional industries, and the communities and businesses that rely on, and support them,” John Harvey, AgriFutures Australia Managing Director said.

To align with AgriFutures Australia’s new strategic direction and to ensure the Rural Women’s Award continues to identify, celebrate and empower women, a number of changes have been made to the Award criteria for 2018.

One important change to the Award is that projects or initiatives can be commercially focused, providing they still align with AgriFutures Australia’s strategic priorities of innovation, creativity, community sustainability, education, productivity, agribusiness, regional development and technology.

Location is also no barrier – applicants can live in rural and regional Australia, or in the city – their applications will be measured on the impact and benefits to rural and regional Australia.

Another important change to the Award criteria is that applicants are not required to have a specific project to be considered eligible, although projects are still welcomed. This year, applications can be submitted based on an idea, an identified problem, or an opportunity the applicant wants to focus on. Applicants may be in the early stages of working through how they want to contribute, or they may be well down the road in making their contribution.

2017 NSW/ACT AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award Winner and National Finalist and co-founder of Hay Inc Rural Education Program Sandra Ireson says, “Sometimes it’s too easy to sit on an idea and not make it happen. The Rural Women’s Award is a great motivator, and it allows you to draw on the skills and capacities of others to see your project come to fruition. The benefit you gain from that is enormous.”

Each state and territory winner receives a $10,000 bursary provided by Platinum sponsor Westpac, to bring their idea or project to life, access to professional development opportunities and national Alumni networks. The 2018 AgriFutures™ Rural Women’s Award National Winner and Runner Up, selected from the state and territory winners, and announced at a Gala event at Parliament House in Canberra in September 2018, will receive a further $10,000 and $5000 respectively.

Applications for the AgriFutures™ Rural Women’s Award are open now and close Sunday, 29 October 2017 at 9pm AEDT. 

For more information and to apply, visit the website here 

If you are a resident of NSW-ACT and would like to discuss your idea, or you would like to access a mentor who can guide you through the application process, please contact NSW-ACT Award Coordinator, Allison Priest on 02 6391 3620 or email allison.priest@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Art4Agriculture has partnered with the National Farmers Federation and Kidman and Co to celebrate National Agriculture Day (AgDay) on November 21 to run a National Careers Competition for school students with iPad Minis up for grabs.

 To be in the running for the iPad Minis the competition invites students from Years 5 to 12 to design an infographic around a career in agriculture that combines their strengths and passions.

 “Many people think that to have a career in agriculture means being a farmer,” Archibull Prize co-ordinator Lynne Strong said.

 “But that’s not the case. We want students to combine their passions with agriculture to develop a career in feeding, clothing and powering the world – and that career could be anything from the research laboratory to the boardroom and from robotics to energy production.”

 The infographic designed by students will detail how they envisage a career in agriculture, how they perceive a typical day or week and what tertiary education would assist them.

TV personality Costa Georgiadis is an avid supporter of The Archibull Prize and presented at the 2016 award ceremony.

 “ Careers in agriculture can take so many different shapes. Think what you have in your hands. The opportunities are endless, as is the energy and vitality of the young people that I have met that are involved in this space.” Costa tell students.

 President of the National Farmers’ Federation, Fiona Simson, said the careers competition will be a worthy contribution to National Agricultural Day.

 “Australian agriculture is such a dynamic and brimming with opportunity.

 “It’s fitting to complement the celebration of National AgDay with recognition of the diverse and exciting career opportunities in agriculture.

 “I’d encourage everyone to get thinking about how their skills could be put to use in Australia’s fastest growing industry – you might win the competition and discover an exciting new career opportunity along the way!”, Ms Simson concluded.

To find out how to enter visit here 

Fashion house Jeanswest have launched their new Australian Cotton range   Australian cotton is recognised as the best in the world and our very own Young Farming Champion Jess Lehmann features in the Jeanswest campaign. You can read Jess’ blog for Jeanswest here

“we’ve been so encouraged by Jeanswest willingness to get out in the field and learn from our farmers who are leading the world in the ethical and sustainable production of cotton,” says Adam Kay CEO Cotton Australia

Jess’ involvement is as a direct result of her very clever social media strategy. Watch this space for an upcoming article by Jess on how to leverage social media and how you too can share the great story of agriculture

 

As a bit of a cotton and jeans fan myself I will definitely be checking out the Jeanswest cotton collection