BACKING YOUNG GROWERS

BACKING

YOUNG GROWERS

SRA District Manager Central Dylan Wedel believes that one way to prevent the decline in the area of land under cane in the region is to encourage and support young up and coming farmers and help them see the value of staying in the industry.

It is a key reason why SRA Mackay has recently established a Mackay/Plane Creek young growers group with the support of industry stakeholders, to bring together the next generation of growers and involve them in events in the region.

SRA District Delivery Officer Stephanie Duncan is the group organiser, and has established a membership-by-request Facebook group to encourage discussion between on-the-ground events.

Young growers have volunteered for positions on the executive committee and the group has voted to become incorporated. A calendar of events is now being prepared for the months leading up to and after harvest.

“We have also put the challenge out to members of the group that if something happens on their farm, good, bad or ugly, we should share it and get out on farm to learn from it and from each other,”

Dylan Wedel.

“It is about collaborative learning in a small supportive group.”

Equally, Stephanie and Dylan have been working to support the Proserpine Young Growers Group, set up in the past few years. “The group has similar focus areas to the Mackay group. It means we can bring in guest speakers for events that we can share between the two areas.”

Dylan said one of the early learnings from the group is that new growers don’t have a lot of knowledge about what information is readily on hand.

“New growers typically rely on what Dad, Grandpa or some other member of the family tells them.

“But SRA has a wealth of resources freely on offer for growers who want to learn from independent sources."

Meeting of the Mackay Area Young Farmers group.