Tag / Young Farming Champions Program

by Lynne Strong

Cotton Showcase Part 2 – THE ARCHIBULL PRIZE 2018 ARTWORKS

In the second of our two-part series looking at cotton in the 2018 Archibull Prize here we profile six city high schools.

Granville South Creative and Performing Arts High School have leapt straight out of the box with an eye-catching pop-art interpretation of cotton with their Archie ‘The DIVA’ – a dedicated informed visionary activist.

The DIVA is a bold, loud and iconic social media personality who spreads the good word about cotton near and far, and her artwork screams pop-art.

The quote from famous Pop Artist Andy Warhol takes pride of place in our design and boldly introduces the artistic vision of the overall design: “I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art anyone could ever want to own”.

Even Granville’s Young Farming Champion Emma Ayliffe makes an appearance on The DIVA:

[Emma is] styled as cultural icon Rosie the Riveter, as a further nod to the power of advertising (women workers were widespread in the media as government posters, and commercial advertising was used extensively to encourage women to volunteer for wartime service in factories). Both Emma and Rosie are symbols for feminism and the economic power of women in industry.

How cool is The DIVA?

Another visual stand-out is ‘Bulltossi’ from Ku-ring-gai High School, which was also mentored by YFC Emma Ayliffe,

During their Archibull journey the Ku-ring-gai students were fascinated to learn what goes into making the clothes they wear and, while realising there is much complexity in the cotton industry, chose to take a minimalistic approach to their Archie.

The Archie uses a visual language of signs and symbols to convey the Australian story of cotton. We drew inspiration from Bitossi ceramics because of their use of colour, pattern and shape.

Our Archibull was heavily inspired by the Australian landscape, represented in the ochre colours chosen.

 Colour was also a feature of ‘Ushi Bombacio’, the blue and white Archie from Mamre Anglican College.

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The addition of the loom and the inclusion of our own school tartan to demonstrate the link between our cotton industry and our everyday lives makes our Archie unique.

After a visit from YFC James Kanaley the students also came to realise that while cotton is grown in Australia economics mean it is sent overseas to be processed.

Often we do not even recognise the link between our own agricultural industry and the cotton products (such as our own school uniforms) we use every day. The flags from various countries to which we export or from which we buy products demonstrates the effect of globalisation on agriculture and the textiles industry.

Also being mentored by YFC James Kanaley Airds High School was one of a number who took to their Archie with a saw to produce a cut-out in the stomach, and this was a feature of ‘Queen of Cotton’.

The terrariums [in the cut-out] in the middle of our AHS Queen of Cotton are symbolic of the innovations of planting that require less watering. These terrariums demonstrate that through new initiatives and ideas we can save water, providing opportunities for further crops to be grown.

As a dominant theme the Aird High School students wanted to express their varied multicultural and socio-economic backgrounds in relation to the Australia cotton industry.

Overall, our Archibull, Queen of Cotton, is unique as she represents the ideological and sociological viewpoints of our student population, our Airds Community, wider NSW and Australia’s great and powerful agrarian nation and its relationship to the cotton industry.

Queen of Cotton identifies with our student population and is inclusive of our ‘Indigenous Heritage’, our ‘Pacifica’ identities and the overall sense of Australian identity in us all. Concurrent with our representation of our wider school community, we have used the bracelets of colourful beads on the horns to provide an opportunity to identify with our oriental and refugee students.

 Real-life cotton bushes, glow-in-the-dark paint and interconnected wires made for an intriguing Archie from Irrawang High School who created ‘Synthia’ with the help of YFC Casey Onus.

Man-made fibres are portrayed on one side of Synthia, in contrast to the natural fibre of cotton on the other, with the head showing the contrasting issues of both.

The head is a visual of how the cotton industry is being taken over by synthetic materials. It shows the on-going battle between natural and man-made. Wrapped around the left horn is fine cotton thread and wrapped around the right horn is black nylon thread. This nylon continues on twisting and inter-twining through the synthetic side of Synthia, almost like its getting tangled in all of the destruction that manufacturing this material is causing.

And be careful around Synthia – she has secrets:

Hidden amongst the polyester shirt however, is a Nerf gun. The idea behind it is that the gun can be used as an interactive piece by the audience to shoot “yellow pellets” at the pests and diseases in areas that have a “target” to do your part to get rid of them!

 The last of the secondary schools to study cotton was Dakabin State High School from Brisbane who created ‘Cottonbull’ with support from  YFC Sharna Holman, who works for the cotton industry in Queensland

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Like Irrawang the students were not afraid to tackle difficult subjects, in this case the closure of farms in the Menindee area due to water issues.

Our Cottonbull captures the story about the end to cotton farming in the town of Menindee. The design was inspired by an ABC news story written by Declan Gooch on the 20th of May 2018, (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018- 05-20/menindee-last-cotton-harvest/9779014). The article brings attention the issue of water shortage in the region and the effects this has had on the agriculture and tourism industry. The solution to this issue is a plan for the government to buy back the water allocation and stop water running from Lake Menindee to Lake Cawndilla.

Our Cottonbull is unique because it brings attention the issue of water shortage, loss of tourism and agriculture. We have selected imagery directly relating to the news article, allowing the story to be interpreted clearly. The artwork has educated our students on farming issues in Australia, stages of cotton production as well as facts about the cotton industry.

But wait there is more. Tomorrow we bring you our Cattle and Sheep and Grains Archies and next week we will launch the People’s Choice and you can support the schools and pick your favourite Archie

in 2017 the people’s choice blog post was a social media phenomenon. 185,000 people across the globe visited the blog post 65,000 people voted in the poll.

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by Lynne Strong

2018 ARCHIBULL PRIZE ARTWORKS – Primary and Regional Schools Showcase Cotton

A massive twelve schools studied cotton for the Archibull Prize and in Part 1 of our Cotton Showcase here we profile the colour and creativeness of primary school entrants and rural and regional schools.

First up are the Year 6 students from Raymond Terrace Public School who created ‘Cotton-eye Josie’ who is rockin’ the dreadlock look.

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The school looked at the sustainability of the cotton industry by exploring topics such as climate change, biosecurity, healthy communities and food security, and they were also wowed with the use of technology as shown to them by YFC Casey Onus.

(The students) were intrigued with the technology shared, which forms the 21st century tools Ms Onus uses to perform her work as an agronomist…namely the drones. This gave students the idea of depicting the cotton fields from the perspective of an agronomist drone ie: a ‘bird’s eye view’.

When researching climate change the school looked at ways to reduce its carbon footprint:

We had been sent a pack of Archibull resources in the post, including multiple copies of posters. Students re-used and re-purposed these posters by cutting them into sections and using the creative technique of ‘decoupage’ to cover the torso of our ‘Archie’ calf.

As part of their Archibull journey the students raised over $1000 for drought relief through the Buy a Bale campaign. Well done Raymond Terrace!

The next primary school looking at cotton was the Parramatta Public School who created ‘Moona Lisa’ to tell the true story of the cotton industry through headlines and comics.

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Based on our Skype Chat with Emma (YFC Emma Ayliffe) we discovered the biggest challenges the cotton industry face were society’s view and misconceptions about the cotton industry. Students wanted to tell the story through headlines and comic strips. Our aim was to tell the “true” story of the cotton industry to inform society of the best practices that take place.

Our Moona Lisa is unique in that students drew on their strengths as cartoonists and engaged in deep learning using comics as a form of medium to illustrate and tell the “true” story. This was a complex technique that students mastered while learning about visual literacy and creative storytelling through images and humour.

The last of the primary schools studying cotton with their Archibull Prize was Miller Public School that was assisted by YFC Laura Bennett to create ‘Moostapha Cotton’.

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The left side of our Archie shows the farming of cotton through a model. The model has what a cotton farm looks like throughout each season. We’ve even included a tractor that’s harvesting the crop. We also have a map of where cotton is grown around Australia and have three lady beetles to represent the cotton industries efforts to protect the crop using environmentally friendly farming methods.

Our Archie’s right side shows the cotton production cycle. We thought the best way to show this was to use the infographic from Cotton Australia as it was a simple and effective way to show the entire journey of cotton.

Moostapha’s face was left as that of a cow to show that cottonseed can also be used as animal feed.

Three regional schools from Wagga, Tamworth and Muswellbrook took a good look at the Australian cotton industry and each came up with an individual way to express their findings. Oxley High School from Tamworth needed only to step outside their own back door to find inspiration in the cotton fields of the Liverpool Plains and this became the focus of their Archie named ‘Jean’.

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YFCs Casey Onus helped the students on their jean journey, which grew from the amazing fact that one bale of cotton can make 36 pairs of jeans!

10 pairs of blue jeans are used to create the big sky country (on our Archie). One side of our cow is the starry night sky using Vincent Van Gogh’s painting “Starry Night”. The other side is the big sky country on the Liverpool plains cotton growing region. The udders are a representation of the dams that are used to pump water onto the large cotton crops, which we have used black pipe and attached it to the cows teats as if it was drawing water from an underground bore and producing what we have above on our fields.

Kildare Catholic College from Wagga went with a minimalist, but striking, interpretation of the cotton industry with their blue and white Archie named ‘Roberta’.

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The Year 10 visual art class were visited by YFC James Kanaley and came to realise the importance of water to the cotton industry. This became the focus for Roberta.

We have learned just how valuable water is to cotton farmers and know that every drop counts. We wanted to show the cotton plants being immersed by the body of water to show that it is a necessity for growth.

Our Archie is unique as it shows a variety of skills, whilst being graphic and simplistic. We aimed to engage the audiences by juxtaposing the bull with the colour blue (a visual representation of water). This makes the bull stand out in a crowd!

The two very different stylistic sides help convey both a realistic and more graphic depiction of cotton plants being immersed in a body of water.

Still in rural NSW and it was the students of Muswellbrook High School who partnered with YFC Casey Onus to create their Archie named ‘Cotton Eye Joe’.

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Using a wide range of cotton products, including crotchet items, dyed cotton, cotton buds, cotton fabric and a cotton mop, Cotton Eye Joe showcases the process of growing cotton and the variety of products it makes.

During the design process, each student had to design and propose how they would decorate the bull. As a group we took the best elements from each student’s proposal and incorporated them into one whole design.

The Muswellbrook Archie drew on the following design elements:

  • Black and white stripes: represent the rows of cotton crops
  • Sunset with farmer silhouettes: to show how hard and long farmers work everyday
  • Cotton Picker centred in the design: to showcase the machinery used and to emphasise the role that machinery and technology play in the cotton industry
  • Hot pink paint: a link to the cotton dyeing process; highlighting that cotton can be more than white.
  • Cotton reels: we wanted to use an everyday cotton item and transform them into an artwork. The cotton reels construct the word cotton but also look like a piece of machinery (inspiration from the Gin).
  • Australian sunset: we used a silhouette of Australia to link both sides of the bull, but to also showcase the Australian Cotton Industry

Watch this space for Part 2 of our Cotton Showcase

 

by Lynne Strong

Meet Alana Black the 2018 Picture You in Agriculture Young Farming Champion scholarship winner

Picture You in Agriculture is thrilled to announce that Alana Black has been awarded a one year scholarship to our flagship program the Young Farming Champions

Alana Black (4)

Alana has been chosen from a stellar list of nominations to participate in a series of Sydney based workshops, under the mentorship of some of Australia’s finest communication, marketing and professional development experts.

The program’s focus is developing confident, independent, reflective thinkers who can share their story and their personal experiences, while voicing their own opinions about agricultural issues in their industry and more broadly.

The program equips and prepares the participants for that often very daunting experience: of standing up to be counted, even in difficult circumstances. The YFC leadership development model is providing the rock-solid foundation and pivotal stepping stones as part of a journey to lead agriculture’s next generation.

Through these workshops and the program’s lifetime mentorship opportunities, the YFC are also equipped with unique insights into all aspects of the agricultural supply chain as well as consumer attitudes and trends.

Read about our Alumni here 

This is Alana’s story

Rydal is a village of rolling hills, daffodil dotted fields and freezing winters; but for me it will always be home.

I’m the fifth generation of my family to live atop the Great Dividing Range. The Applebees, my ancestors, migrated to Australia from Yorkshire in the 1860’s and settled on a farm in Mt Lambie and we never left.

My childhood was spent on horseback with my next-door neighbour, Julie, exploring all that hidden delights that Rydal had to offer. And although I’ve always had an affinity for living in a regional community, a traditional career in agriculture was something I never considered when leaving high school.

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In 2014 I graduated from Charles Sturt University in Bathurst with a Bachelor of Communication – Public Relations and frankly, I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up!

I started studying my post-graduate degree in organisational communication in 2016. Examining the communication structures in organisations made me consider how family owned businesses, such as family farms, communicate when all major stakeholders are related – it can make for some very messy situations! This led me to begin researching succession in multi-generational farming families.

But trying to bring up succession in my family brought nothing but silence and a quick comment on the weather to change the topic. But after a bit of prodding, my mother told me a story regarding succession in my family that kicked-started my involvement in agriculture.

My grandfather Jack wore oil stained trousers with suspenders, a button down shirt and the same hat every day. A shearer, farmer and family man – Jack has always been a large part of my life. Jack was one of 9 children – 6 girls and 3 boys – and when his father died suddenly, the farm and assets were only left to two of the boys. Jack was devastated and I think many farmers can relate to the fact that my grandfather lost an important part of his identity that day.

We’re really lucky that we had a strong family unit that could get past this. All brothers remained close until their deaths, and cousin sold some of the farm back to my brother as he wanted to write a past wrong.

But there are still repercussions from this that are affecting me and my family generations later.

When you’re a farmer you’re beholden to so many different external influences – market prices, government, trade, and the environment – and because of this farmers have developed a stoicism that is helping feed a communication crisis in Australia.

I started Fledgling Farmers as an online platform to help take back the conversation on succession. I’ve travel all across regional New South Wales, and recently to the UK, to talk to young farmers about the importance of communications competence, and educate them on how to start open and transparent conversations in their family.

Alana Black (1)
In 2017, I was announced as an ABC Heywire Trailblazer and it completely changed the trajectory of my life and Fledgling Farmers.  Trailblazers is a branch of the ABC Heywire competition that provides young regional change makers, who are working on projects to make regional Australia a better place, the opportunity to tell their story on the ABC. Since being announced as a winner, I’ve been a guest on Triple J’s Hack program during their Bush Week Segment (you can listen here), featured on the Life Matters Podcast and presented at conferences such as Grain Growers Innovation Generation Conference to talk about regional youth and succession.

Alana Black (7)

Being a Trailblazer means I had the opportunity to go to Canberra for a week for the Heywire Summit. Between the Segway rides and speed-networking events, we were involved in professional development and storytelling workshops. We were afforded the opportunity and environment to truly examine our projects; the failures and successes that have shaped what they are today, and discussed how we move forward to future goals.

From pitching our projects in Parliament House to appearing on ABC News Breakfast with fellow Trailblazer Prudence; Heywire has been a truly life-changing experience. I came back from the Summit with a head full of ideas and a heart full of appreciation for Heywire and all that they do.

Rural Youth Ideas Festival, Kinross, Scotland, 2nd & 3rd August 2018.

Like every good millennial,  I love social media and I started following the Rural Youth Project on Facebook and Instagram in February. I reached out to the team behind the project to see what data they had – if any – on succession. After a few emails back-and-forth RYP invited me to come over to Scotland and attend the Ideas Festival to present on growing up in regional Australia and Fledgling Farmers. Rural Youth Project follows the lives of 15 youth across the globe through vlogs. My videos don’t have the usual witty repartee you would usually find on YouTube; and as apprehensive as I was to start filming myself rattling off into a camera, I’ve realised that it’s an important platform to educate people on the barriers rural youth face across the globe. You can view my vlogs here.

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From these experiences, I’ve realised the value of mentors in my career and I would recommend any young farmer or young agribusiness professional to seek out people – inside and outside their industry – to mentor them. I have three mentors, each who provide valuable advice and a different perspective when it comes to Fledgling Farmers and I can’t thank Michael Inwood, Laura Phelps and Jillian Kilby enough for all their help and guidence.

Working in communications is not your typical career in Ag – but I believe it is an important, and often overlooked, aspect of the agricultural industry. My teachers always said that if talking was a subject, I’d get a Band 6!

Through Fledgling Farmers, I’m finally putting the skill of “chewing the fat” to use and get to see the best parts of New South Wales (and the world) while doing it.

Congratulations Alana It is clear you are going to bring new connections and insights to the team and we are looking forward to meeting you in person.

 

 

by Champions for Change

Young Farming Champions Muster September 2018 Week 4

This week’s top stories from Young Farming Champions around the country.

In the field

In Marrar, NSW, Grains YFC and fifth generation farmer Daniel Fox is trying something daring this week, sowing chickpeas for the first time. Best of luck, Dan

 

Our resident YFC “Meat Doctor” Steph Fowler is moving into the next phase of her merino genetics trial, with 600 lambs processed and sampled for meat quality traits. Steph says it will be a while yet before the samples are processed but it’s exciting to have all the samples finally collected for the year! Can’t wait to hear these results, Steph.

Grains YFC Keiley O’Brien has kicked off this years hay making season, giving a canola crop the chop in Narromine, NSW. Fingers crossed for a good season ahead!
Keiley hay making

Out of the Field

Wool YFC and Youth Voices Leadership Committee chair Dr Jo Newton has spent the weekend at the Royal Melbourne Show, stewarding for the White Suffolk, Suffolk & South Suffolk Judging. Jo says, “Being a steward is a bit like being a secretary for the judge who is in charge of assessing the animals. At the MelbShow we used a tablet to record the results for each class, make sure owners (& judge) know what animals are needed in the judging ring as well as announcing results on the microphone.” If you’re at the Melbourne show this week make sure you pass by the Sheep Shed and say G’day to Jo!

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“This is a class of Lincoln ewes in the next ring to the one I was looking after. The lambs had a great time frolicking in the ring while their mums where being assessed,” Jo says.

YFC and Green Globe Awards Finalist Anika Molesworth has hit the radio waves again with a great interview on Hit 99.7 Riverina. Anika has been working to make NSW a more eco-friendly place to live, and she joined the show to talk to Claire & Sam about how she feels about being nominated for an Award. Take a listen here

Anika was also featured on the Weekly Times this week, talking about farming in outback NSW,  championing for climate action and her PhD work. This is a lovely insight into a wonderful ag champion. Well done Anika! Read it here

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#YouthVoices18 #YouthinAg #Farmersforclimateaction

The famous Henty Machinery Field Days were on this week and Wool YFC Dione Howard and Rice YFC Erika Heffer were both there. Dione and fellow vets from Riverina and Murray Local Land Services were answering animal health and biosecurity questions over the three days, while Erika was in the Landcare shed.

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It was a busy week in the office for Dione who then headed to the Hay Sheep Sale on Wednesday, where approximately 47,000 sheep were sold. Dione says many properties were selling large numbers of sheep due to the ongoing dry conditions.

Dione and Chloe

Dione ran into fellow YFC Chloe Dutschke at the sale who had travelled from Tupra station, where she has been contracting for the last couple of months. Great pic, ladies!

Cotton YFC Sharna Holman is super keen to be heading to “Go Ahead” Greg Mills‘s extension workshop in Townsville next week, as part of the Australasia-Pacific Extension Network 2018 Roadshow. Greg is a consultant on all things agribusiness extension, was the Kondinin Group and ABC Rural 2017 Consultant of the Year, and is a great friend of the Art4Agriculture Young Farming Champions program. We have no doubt you’ll have a great day and take home many valuable insights Sharna!

Prime Cuts

Well done to Grains YFC Dee George (front left) who has been touring the Royal Melbourne Show this week in her role as a Victorian Rural Ambassador State Finalist. #YouthinAg #RoyalMelbourneShow

Dee at Melb Show

And congrats to YFCs Sharna Holman and Alexandria Galea #teamcotton who were both recently elected to the Wincott – Women in Cotton committee, Sharna as communications officer and Alexandria as a regional representative for Central Queensland. Check out these great introductions to Sharna and Alexandria on the Wincott facebook page.

Lifetime Highlights

Massive milestone moment right now for University of New England students, Poultry YFC Jasmine Whitten and Wool YFC Emma Turner, who both have their honours seminars today.

Jasmine’s honours is investigating the effect of environmental enrichment on fearfulness of pullets (young layer hens). Emma’s honours studies the implementation of shorter shearing intervals. Huge congratulations for all the hard work and time you’ve both put into reaching these milestones. Enjoy this moment!

Exciting times ahead for Cattle and Sheep YFC and Rabobank graduate Felicity Taylor who has just received a promotion as a Rabobank Rural Officer. Felicity will spent the next two months in the Netherlands working in Rabobank’s Global Food and Agriulture Sector, supporting multinational agribusinesses, as part of her current graduate position before moving back to her hometown of Moree, NSW, to begin her new position. Mega congrats Felicity!

Felicity Taylor

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by Lynne Strong

Is it a cow no its a pig or maybe even a chicken? Meet our Egg and Pork Archies

Continuing our showcase of the 2018 Archibull Prize artworks entries today we present the Pork and Egg and Poultry Archies. Check out the Horticulture entries HERE

Thanks to support from Aussie Farmers Foundation we were able to offer schools who have been participating in the program for a number of years the PORK and EGG and POULTRY industries to investigate and present their learnings via a lifesize 3D artwork in the form of a cow supported in this case by our Young Farming Champion industry experts Laura Phelps  and Jasmine Whitten 

So how do you turn a cow into a story about pigs and chooks

This is what The Henry Lawson High School did with PORK. Meet POWERBULL 

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You can read the wonderful backstory behind POWERBULL here

In our blog we are sharing with you what the students think makes Powerbull unique

At first glance, it has a generator, It has lashing lights, it has our signature gold hooves, stuffed piglets and a quilt, and is painted like a pig even though it’s a cow! More importantly, everything on the work is authentic student work. It is a reflection of their interests and their areas of learning about the pork industry. The students have brought to this a range of their skills from quilting and sewing to cartooning and sculpting.

From Central NSW we move to Queensland where Calvary Christian School Carbrook Snr Campus and Calvary Christian School Springwood Jnr Campus tackled EGGS and POULTRY in very different ways.

Meet Eggmund The Egg Calfé from Calvary Christian School Springwood Campus

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This is what the students had to say about Eggmund

The concept of our Archie is to showcase the versatility of eggs. Eggs can be used for so many different foods, or eaten alone as a nutritious breakfast/snack. The idea is that the Archie is a café (or calfé in this case) where eggs are often served in a variety of ways. In this art piece, we brainstormed as many different foods as we could that could be represented. We have fried eggs on toast, scrambled eggs on toast, an omelette, cake, meringue, pancakes and so on. The cow itself is designed to look like it is made out of recycled wood in an attempt to subtly represent sustainability and reusability. The legs and body of the Archie have been turned into the table using a dual paint shade, wood grain effect. In the middle of the head is a white patch which represents a single egg. This is to emphasise that the only ingredient involved in every food item on the table is an egg.

The students at Calvary Christian School Carbrook Snr Campus had a realllllly big idea as you can see. Meet Le-EGG-O. We just love all the clever names

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The students message is Feeding, Powering and Clothing a Hungry Nation is child’s play and we can learn these key concepts from childhood. It also brings out the inner child in most adults (who doesn’t want to play with LEGO?)

So why LEGO?

We went with this idea because LEGO, much like chickens and eggs, speaks a universal language.  LEGO is internationally recognised and children from multiple nationalities will demonstrate recognition, be able to read booklets, construct, play, plan and dream. Likewise, poultry & eggs are an internationally recognised food source, with many countries having their own unique take on dishes cooked with chicken or eggs. In formulating our LEGO collection, we have had to purchase LEGO products from many different countries and states, included Germany, France and Holland, adding to our international theme.

We live in a global village with food being sourced from all over our planet as we feed, power and cloth our hungry nations.  And with growing populations, we have to continue building these international trading ‘village’ links.

As with all ecosystems, our story starts with the nature connection, found on the farm.  Our farmer demonstrates the importance of diversity, as he produces pigs, chickens and cropping.  His crucial job is to supply crops that supply the egg and broiler bird production which you will find hidden inside the cow. His love of nature is demonstrated by the animals he keeps and the neat tidy appearance of his farm.  It can also be noted that he provides much needed employment for others (see the tractor driver, who looks less than impressed about something but we’ll leave that to you to figure out!).

Hidden inside the neck and shoulders of the cow you will find commercial egg and chicken production. We hid these production systems just like we find egg production and broiler birds grown behind closed doors.  However, small peep-holes provide opportunities to look in on what is happening and most will be pleasantly surprised to see how much care and consideration our farmers give the  animals in their care.  Over the course of our unit, we have learned from a biosecurity point of view the importance of keeping these valuable food sources clean for human consumption, (hence the closed doors in the real world) but wanted to provide the opportunity for people to have a sneak peek.  The mirrors in these peep-holes do provide some distortion though, so things may not always be as they first appear, much like the real world.

Coming out of the multicoloured brick wall, which is symbolic of the diversity (different shapes, sizes and colours) of chicken and Egg consumers, you will find our first support industry links.  Here we find the domestic transportation industry.  

Moving on from the transportation hub, we will find our supermarket.  (For space saving we had to by-pass the wholesalers).  Supermarkets are where most of us as consumers have our first interactions with eggs and poultry.  However it is important for society to make sure that children are educated in knowing where their food comes from  – and that it doesn’t all come on polystyrene trays, neatly wrapped in plastic. 

From the supermarket, we can move across to our ‘home’ scene, where our lovely retirees are enjoying an enormous roast – a feature of many home cooked family dinners.  Left overs served tomorrow in the form of a pie, a stir fry or being drooled over by the family dog.  

Our Parisian Restaurant is a key feature on the LEGO play table – intricate detail and a huge part of the story of chickens and eggs. Employment here is found in the form of the chefs (there are two – can you spot them?) waiting staff and delivery drivers.  And all because of the humble chicken and egg.  

Down on the runway under the cow you will find more transportation links – these ones are the international links.  For most of our Broiler birds and indeed our layers, eggs are imported from international stocks to keep good breeding lines in Australia. And whilst our plane might be departing, we do also export products from Australia to various international markets.  We also have our airport crewman powering up the side of the runway, symbolic of the employment this export industry also supports.

This international theme is then accentuated with the various languages shown on the shoulder and brisket of the cow – French, German, Dutch, English and Spanish: reflective of our LEGO sources and the language studied in our school.

And on the very top of the cow, having conquered the Archibull, you will find our two resident farmers who have taken us on this learning journey – Farmers Basil and Jessie.

Read the full learning journey here 

Wow and watch this space we still have Sheep and Cattle, Grains and Cotton and Wool to come.

#YouthVoices18 #ArchieAction #YouthinAg

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by Lynne Strong

2018 Archibull Prize Artworks – Check out our Archies showcasing everything fruit, veggies and flowers

The Archibull Prize is a world renowned competition for Australian school students aged between 9 and 18 that uses the 21st century teaching methodology Project Based Learning (PBL).

PBL invites students to investigate and respond to a challenge, task or project and  pursue deep real-world investigations where they:

  • Design real and complex projects for learning;
  • Think and create in digital and non-digital environments to develop unique and useful solutions by both adapting and improving on current designs as well as the innovation of new possibilities;
  • Think analytically and communicate using multi-media formats and engage in authentic assessment; and
  • Present their learning via exhibitions.

The Archibull Prize does this by combining Art, Computer Information Technologies and Agriculture.

Students are given a lifesize fibreglass cow, a farming industry, a young farming champion and the theme Feeding Clothing and Powering a Hungry Nation is a Shared Responsibility.

Their Archie artwork is just one of three major challenges the students have to complete to compete for Grand Champion

Thanks to Aussie Farmers Foundation schools were able to study Horticulture for the first time.  Lets see what the student studying horticulture did with their Archies

First cab of the rank is Little Bay of Community Schools – who are four primary schools that feed into Matravillle Sports High School who mentor the students. Meet Veggie Patch 

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Here is a little of the back story.

Our design offers a celebration of the innovative, creative and educational components of the horticultural industry.

The first side of our Archibull features a shipping container farm located in the middle of a busy city centre. This innovation provides a perfect answer to Australia’s continual growth of population and the big challenges of feeding a hungry nation. The shipping container farm is able to provide farmers an additional way to allow the nation to receive fresh, nutritious and local produce.

On the flip side of our Archibull, side 2 highlights the importance of biosecurity in the horticultural industry and the need to maintain high standards of policy.

We have also featured some renewable energy sources that farmers are now utilising on farms as a way of combating climate change.

As your eyes travel between the legs of the Archibull, we have designed a ‘Farm to table’ conveyor belt adorned with the transformation of a seedling into a lettuce. The felt sculptures have been inspired by artist Claes Oldenburg and his pop art soft sculptures. The conveyor belt celebrates the strong cycle of the ‘farm to table’ social movement. We are promoting our viewers to become part of the direct relationship between themselves and farmers.

The head of our Archibull truly celebrates all things green as he has transformed into an overgrown forest, the beauty of plants inspired this bright and eye-catching design. Additionally, the honeycomb patterns highlight the integral position bee’s play in the industry.

Lastly but not the least the back of our Archibull provides an educational, bright and fun message to our viewers, ‘Eat a rainbow’. Individually cut and glued onto the cow we have created a rainbow out of fruits and vegetables. This allows viewers a visual celebration of the importance of fruits and vegetables in our life. Read the full story here 

Our second primary school is Calvary Christian School Carbrook Jnr Campus. Meet ‘Herb’ the Horticultural Cow

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And here is just a smidgen of Herb’s back story

Herb is designed to highlight the importance of eating fruits and vegetables as part of a balanced diet. Keeping healthy is a theme throughout the Year 5 cohort and we researched what the daily requirements are for a healthy person and identified many different fruits and vegetables.

Australia’s horticulture industry comprises fruit, vegetables, nuts, flowers, turf and nursery products. Many of the produce grown is seasonal and farms employ people in the picking season to help harvest the crops.

The different fruits and vegetables that we placed onto Herb, are designed to represent Australia’s horticulture industry. We placed Herb’s feet in pots and added ‘grass’ to highlight our growing theme. Fruits were added to the pots to represent the fruit that fall from the trees each season. Herb was painted green to signify the ground that provides the soil and nutrients for the plants to grow in.

The vine was added to signify a growing plant that spreads its leaves and vines in order to produce fruit, vegetables and new plants. This vine also represents  the farmers of our community who spread their produce across our country to keep us all healthy. Without farmers in Australia we would have to purchase food from overseas, this would mean an even higher cost for food, a lack of job opportunities for a lot of people and we would not have as much control over the quality of the food we receive. Learn more about Herb here 

Our next Archie comes from Hurlstone Agricultural High School. Meet Brahman: The Sacred Cow

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The full backstory of Brahman: The Sacred Cow can be found here . This is what the Hurlstone team said that makes her unique

Our Archie is unique due to the intricacy of design and of its cultural influences. It is more than what it seems on the surface, with each design detailing a story that flows along the body of the cow. Our vision is a strong celebration and honours the enterprise of Horticulture. The nourishment of the population and the fulfilment of health and wealth in our society is central to the piece. Our theme connects culture, religion, art and agriculture. It directly alludes to the multicultural population in our local community and recognises our responsibilities as global citizens.

The material practices employed in the installation Brahman: The Sacred Cow also emphasises the concept of abundance; every aspect from the patterns and symbols to the cornucopia express the wealth of food and the health and happiness it provides. The golden cart holding the beautiful collections and displays of the fruits and flowers further clarifies true beauty of horticulture.

Our artwork augments the true value of the cow by using gold as a symbol of wealth, luxury and decadence. This adds to the artwork’s unique qualities, as it contrasts strongly the traditional notions of a cow. The earthly connotations associated with horticulture and produce is effectively elevated to a spiritual level.

Our third primary school studying Horticulture was Gwynneville Public School. Meet DEM – E – TER the Greek Goddess of Agriculture.

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This is what the students had to say about their goddess

Our sculpture examines the many components of the Horticulture  Industry and the significance of this industry to the Australian population in general. Horticulture represents “Everything that Grows” and comes from the Latin word “Hortus” meaning “garden”. This includes flowers, fruits and vegetables, grasses, nuts and spices.

On the front of our cow we have pictures of different fruits and vegetables, with raindrops and circles representing the importance of rain and sunshine to the growth of all plants. The leg at the front has a picture of a plant showing one of the processes in plant production – germination.

We have added bees to the bee-hind of our cow. The hive joins the front and the back of the cow showing a correlation between the flowers and fruit and vegetables. Bees are the backbone of food production as well as flower and plane reproduction and without these busy little workers pollination of our flowers wouldn’t occur.

The back of our cow has a floral design representing all flowers with grass on the back legs. 

As a result of our Fresh Food Tour of a local supermarket we used the design of a re-usable bag of “Eat a Rainbow Every Day” to outline various fruits and vegetables and then sponge the colour on the cow. 

The vibrant colours of the flowers emphasise how bees are attracted to them to pollinate. Read more about Dem-e-ter here

A truly stunning start. Watch this space to see what students have done with Wool, Cotton,Pork, Egg and Poultry, Sheep and Cattle and Grains

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by Lynne Strong

Young Farming Champions Muster September 2018 Week 3  

This week’s top stories from Young Farming Champions across the country.  

In the Field

Who’s in the field this week? The amazing wool YFC Dione Howard, that’s who!

Dione has moved to Griffith NSW and is working with Riverina LLS as a district veterinarian. What an exciting career ahead she has! After finishing her studies at Charles Sturt University, Dione is looking forward to working with farmers across the Riverina.

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@dione_howard in the sheep yards.

“The first month of being a district vet with the Riverina LLS has been hugely rewarding. I am really enjoying working with livestock producers in the region. I am very grateful to have been able to stay and work locally in the Riverina. Griffith is a great place to live with plenty of events and a welcoming community.” ” Dione says. 

Hailing from a mixed sheep and cropping property at Milbrulong – she has gained a wealth of experience with livestock over the years – and you can read all about this talented young lady here.

She is passionate about communicating animal health information to producers who are at the forefront of livestock production, and is also training to play a key role in disease surveillance and biosecurity across the Riverina.

Dione will be in the LLS shed at Henty Machinery Field Days on Tuesday – pop in and say hello!

Out of the Field

This week we had R U?OK day

On this day we encourage everyone to meaningfully connect with people around them and support anyone struggling with life.

Staying connected and having meaningful conversations is something we can all do. You don’t need to be an expert – just a good friend and a great listener. So, if you notice someone who might need some support – start a conversation.

Cotton YFC Emma Ayliffe made a great Facebook post this week, asking people to check in with their mates and to have honest conversations about how you’re going. Nice one Em!

This year at Picnic Point High School are competing in the Archibull prize competition, and have been tasked to research the wool industry. And as a proud wool YFC, Sam Wan was excited to see their progress on a recent Twitter post!

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As @S_Wan926 points out – they’ve got some pretty impressive artistic skills amongst them!

“This day, we continued working on the Archie … Euan Gullick and Daniel Le worked on a stop-motion animation that will serve as an intro to Geddy Mukama’s animation, titled “The Great Wool War”. Apart from that, the painting team has been painting the underneath of the jersey that the knitting team is going to knit.” – Picnic Point High School blog.

Cotton season is nearly upon us down in southern NSW – but cotton YFC Sharna Holman is already spotting little green heads Emerald! Sharna is an Extension Officer with CottonInfo in Central Queensland, and the warmer weather up north means the cotton pops up from the ground a few weeks earlier than crops in NSW.

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@sharnaholman is running some variable rate nitrogen trials with cotton – and we look forward to hearing the results!

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Grains YFC Sam Coggins is part of RiseHarvest a group from Myanmar and Australia working in international agricultural development, and was one of 2018 finalist for Thought For Food Challenge 2018. Sam and his group produced this great video – whin which we hear why Sam is so passionate about farming.

The annual Thought For Food Challenge is a global “collaborative competition” to launch promising new ideas that address how we will feed and nourish our growing global population.

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@cogsam55  (left) with his teammates from RiseHarvest.

Prime Cuts

Wool YFC Peta Bradley and her family had their annual ram sale last week – a big congrats to New Armatree Border Leicesters!

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 “Our family prides itself on producing rams with industry leading genetics to benefit the supply chain. The rams sold had seen very little green feed in their lives but have been supplementary fed. The sale was strong given that many of our clients have begun to destock. The rams sold went to many different homes across the state from Cooma in the south, Bourke to the north, and Nyngan to the west.” says Peta 

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@Petabradley with her family on sale day!

NSW Farmer YFC Tegan Nock is a lady of many talents – including Producer of ‘Grassroots’ – an award winning documentary about fungus, farming and science.

Watch the trailer here 

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“Farmers have a huge potential to make positive change .They manage a large proportion of our planet, and this story is a great example of how farmers can be at the forefront of the battle against climate change. I was immediately drawn to the story because it gives an insight into the fascinating world of soil microbiology.” ” says Tegan. “

Cotton YFC Anika Molesworth was named Australian Youth Champion of the Low Carbon Economy in the latest report by 350.org. and the world is very excited including the Argentine  Ambassador 

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“Anika is a voice that questions the status quo and encourages current and future generations to have critical and creative perspectives on how we can find solutions to the pressing problems caused by climate change and its impact on farming, farming communities and the wider public,” the report said.

The report, Heroes Building Australia’s Low-Carbon Economy, brings together stories of Australian businesses, communities and individuals who are making a change to renewable energy and Anika is listed alongside names such as former CEO of AGL Energy Andy Vesey and Community Power Agency founder Nicky Ison.

“Renewable energy is the way of the future, no doubt about it, and in agriculture, we have such tremendous opportunity to champion this technology. Being named by 350 as Australia’s Youth Champion is an honour but we still have a long way to go in building a sustainable energy future. I hope this recognition inspires others to participate in the continuing growth of the renewable energy sector and drives home the message that rural Australia needs (and deserves) a cohesive and ambitious climate and energy policy.” Anika said.

And finally, a shout out to YFC supporter Aimee Snowden for her selection in the NFF 2030 Leaders Program!

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Aimee with Little BRICK Pastoral celebrates Australian agriculture through unique photos of a Lego® farmer. Aimee lives on her family’s irrigation farm near Tocumwal in the southern Riverina – and her impact is far-reaching. With the training experience gained through this leadership program we can’t wait to see what she does next. Well done Aimee!

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#YouthVoices18 #ArchieAction #YouthInAg

by Lynne Strong

Anika Molesworth named Australian Youth Champion of the Low Carbon Economy

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In support of  the recent Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, USA (September 12-14), Australian movement 350.org has released a report celebrating Australia’s achievements in the renewable energy sector. Young Farming Champion Anika Molesworth has been named as Youth Champion.

“Anika is a voice that questions the status quo and encourages current and future generations to have critical and creative perspectives on how we can find solutions to the pressing problems caused by climate change and its impact on farming, farming communities and the wider public,” the report said.

The report, Heroes Building Australia’s Low-Carbon Economy, brings together stories of Australian businesses, communities and individuals who are making a change to renewable energy and Anika is listed alongside names such as former CEO of AGL Energy Andy Vesey and Community Power Agency founder Nicky Ison.

“Renewable energy is the way of the future, no doubt about it, and in agriculture, we have such tremendous opportunity to champion this technology. Being named by 350 as Australia’s Youth Champion is an honour but we still have a long way to go in building a sustainable energy future. I hope this recognition inspires others to participate in the continuing growth of the renewable energy sector and drives home the message that rural Australia needs (and deserves) a cohesive and ambitious climate and energy policy.” Anika said.

The 350 recognition comes in a long line of accolades for this young Australian committed to making a difference. Anika is the founder of Climate Wise Agriculture, participated in the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP21) and was the 2015 Young Australian Farmer of the Year.  She is currently undertaking PhD studies looking at optimising soil fertility in water constrained environments and comparing Australian conditions to those found in Cambodia and Laos. She is also a gifted speaker and educator and a 2018 Green Globe Finalist.

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“I would like people in the wider community to realise the great importance of a vibrant and resilient rural Australia to the overall health and strength of our nation. I would like everyone to share the pride I feel for Australian farmers. It gives me great pleasure to celebrate all the heroes named in the 350 report, and those not listed, who are showing great leadership, commitment and innovation in building a cleaner and greener future for Australia and a stronger agricultural sector.”  Anika said.

#YouthVoices18 #YouthinAg #Renewables #ClimateAction

by Lynne Strong

Young Farming Champions Muster September 2018 Week 2  

This week’s top stories from Young Farming Champions across the country.  

In the Field

Spring has definitely sprung at Panorama Farms Speckle Park where calving is in full swing for YFC Naomi Hobson and her partner Tim. These cuties are already in the paddock with more crossbred and stud calves due any day!

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Spring Calves at Panorama Farms Speckle Park

YFC Emma Ayliffe has also had visitors on farm this week. WIN News Central West went out to chat to Em as part of their drought series.

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They spoke about the challenges of encountering a drought in her and her partner Craig’s 1st year on their own property. Em also spoke about the challenges of running a business during drought, Em is a partner in Summit Ag, who provide agronomy services in Central West NSW. Catch the story here 

YFC Jess Kirkpatrick snapped this picture while in Ouyen, Victoria this week. It’s one of 8 sites for the Victorian Farmers Federation Roadshow. The day featured a market update from GrainCorp, where Jess is in the Graduate Program as well as talks on chain of responsibility and truck road worthiness

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 Pretty skies in Ouyen, Victoria for the Victorian Farmers Federation Roadshow

Out of the Field

It was a big day out West with both Wool YFC Bessie Thomas and Emma Turner hosting their events.

Sheep and cattle farmers in far-west NSW kicked off their work boots for the inaugural Barefoot Bowls at Burragan event at Wool YFC Bessie Thomas’s farm on Saturday. Thirty drought affected locals travelled from as far as Tilpa, 115km north-east on the Darling River, to compete in the round robin tournament. The drinks were cold and the competition was hot as teams bowled for the coveted “Occasional Trophy” – a trophy for those occasions where you might occasionally need a trophy.

“Everyone had a fantastic evening and it made us all realise we need to do it more often,” Bessie said. “We had Marie Kelley, Rural Adversity Mental Health Co-Ordinator from Ivanhoe, Rural Chaplains David and Robin Pullen from the Salvation Army, Broken Hill, and lots of food, nibbles, and beautiful dinner and dessert. I think the relaxed, social atmosphere was just what everyone needed, as drought times are so draining and demanding.” Many thanks to everyone who helped pulled off a great night!

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Keiley O’Brien kept us all in the loop with the action at the Naromine Show last weekend. As the 2018 Showgirl, for the next 12 months Keiley will be an ambassador for rural NSW and the agricultural show movement. During the show Keiley was involved in everything from the grand parade, Young Farmer Challenge, cattle judging. Head over to the Picture You In Agriculture Facebook page for the full story. 

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2018 has been a whirlwind of activity for YFC Lucy Collingridge. She found time to have a chat with Behind the Sash about what she’s been up to

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Prime Cuts

YFC and Youth Voices Leadership Team Chair Jo Newton was this week announced on the Australian Financial Review 100 Women of Influence Award.   Jo’s inclusion on the list recognises her and 99 other women who are resilient, agile and have a strong sense of purpose that drives them and enables them to influence others. She joins women representing the arts, health, environment and community development. On winning the award Jo said “I was humbled to find out I had been nominated for the 100 Women of Influence by my peers on the Youth Voices Leadership Team,” Jo said, “and then to find out I was on the list was an overwhelming experience. I hope to use this opportunity to shine a light on the causes that I am passionate about, translating science into real benefits for farms, and advocating, supporting and mentoring young people, particularly women, in agriculture.” 

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Congratulations to YFC Meg Rice who was offered and has accepted a law clerk position with a Canberra Law firm. This will see her specialise in Rural Succession Planning when she graduates as a lawyer next year.

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Meg Rice is heading to Canberra 

Rarely a week goes by without at least one of our YFC being recognised for their contributions to agriculture and rural and regional Australia. In this blog  our Young Farming Champions identify awards as a significant platform to foster their career journey and reflect on how nominating for an award is an important step on many YFCs career journeys, expanding far beyond a pretty trophy.

Our YFC know it is important to grab opportunity with both hands, to travel and navigate foreign environments, meet new people, develop cultural sensitivity, shift perspective and see where someone else is coming from. In this blog Argentina and Australia – Our Young Farming Champions broaden their perspective, cultural sensitivity and appreciation., YFC Lucy Collingridge, Meg Rice and Anika Molesworth who travelled to Argentina in recent months share their ideas and learn from the South American country, and in doing so opened their eyes to the differences and similarities between Argentine and Australian agriculture.

#YouthinAg #YouthVoices18

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by Lynne Strong

Argentina and Australia – Our Young Farming Champions broaden their perspective, cultural sensitivity and appreciation.

Four of our intrepid Young Farming Champions travelled to Argentina in recent months to share ideas and learn from the South American country, and in doing so opened their eyes to the differences and similarities between Argentine and Australian agriculture.

Meg Rice, Lucy Collingridge and Jasmine Whitten were in Argentina and Uruguay as part of their studies with the University of New England. Lucy and Jasmine competed in the IFAMA (International Food and Agribusiness Management Association) Student Case Competition and toured a range of agricultural practices including cropping, beef and mixed practice farms, research organisations, a cattle sale yard in the middle of Buenos Aires, a soybean processing and biofuels plant, an export facility on the Parana River and the headquarters of the largest farmer Co-operative in Argentina. Both girls came away with strong impressions.

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Photos courtesy of Lucy Collingridge

“I realised there is one vital aspect to agriculture and that is the impact government has in the development or hindering of industries,” Jasmine says. “The beef industry in Argentina has a long history of government intervention, due to Argentine’s high domestic beef consumption (58kg/person/year). Any increase to the cost of beef products can lead to backlash by the citizens against the government and so there are taxes on exports and fiats in the domestic marketplace. However, the government intervention restricts growth in the sector.”

Photos courtesy of Lucy Collingridge

For Lucy, a biosecurity officer with NSW Local Land Services, it was the contrasting approaches to biosecurity that made the most impact. “At all the places we visited, biosecurity was not at the forefront of their mind; even at a dairy processing plant there were no considerations around hygiene or biosecurity standards,” she says. Lucy gained greater appreciation for Australian practices during her travels. “We are lucky to have the high standards we do here in Australia, and even though at times producers and visitors can find on-farm biosecurity practices extensive, it is through these high standards and thorough practices we are able to minimise incursions, and lower the spread, of diseases, weeds and pests. We should be very proud of the high quality Australian produce that we can put on the global table.”

Photos courtesy of Lucy Collingridge 

Anika Molesworth was the third YFC to travel to Argentina and Uruguay. She took part in a parallel youth program to the G20 meeting of Agricultural Ministers which was being attended by the Federal Agricultural Minister David Littleproud. In a program organised by the Australian Embassy in Argentina, Anika participated in a range of activities involving young farmer groups, Ministers and congress – giving a series of presentations and participating in workshops. And it was here she found similarities to Australia. “We discussed the challenges of keeping young talented people in rural communities and agricultural industries. We shared concerns about the increasing rural-urban disconnect. We had reoccurring conversations about the drought that is being experienced in both Argentina and Australia, and how an increasingly difficult climate is a major challenge for people setting out on a career on the land,” Anika says. “Despite the shared challenges in both these parts of the world, the enthusiasm and commitment shown by the young people is extraordinary – and fills me with great optimism for our future.”

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Anika with Australian Minister for Agriculture Hon David Littleproud MP (right) and Tristan Baldock a grain farmers from SA 

Anika believes the strength of her tour came from the relationships and collective energy created between the two countries. In a joint statement between young Argentinian and Australian farmers presented to the Australian and Argentinian Agricultural Ministers in their bilateral meeting, they suggested actions to maintain and increase these relationships using both physical and online platforms. You can read more of Anika’s Argentine experiences here.

Art4Agriculture’s Young Farming Champions are no longer tied to Australian soils. As Jasmine, Lucy, Meg and Anika show, there are mutual benefits to international agricultural conversations that foster relationships and positive directions for future challenges.

P.S: Congratulations to Lucy’s UNE team who won their division in the IFAMA Student Case Competition. See the story here

#YouthVoices #YouthinAg

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