Special day out for Central Highlands farmers

CENTRAL Highlands farmers will be the focus of a full-day event aimed at providing specialised development tools and information next month.

Commerce Ballarat is organising the Farmer’s Day Out, which will be held at the Ballarat Showgrounds in Mount Rowan from 9.30am to 5pm on Wednesday 25 March.

Tickets are $58 and have been subsidised by support from the Ballan, Buninyong and Creswick community banks, and are available through the Commerce Ballarat website.

The event has also received funding from the federal and state governments, with the federal component coming from the Future Drought Fund’s Regional Drought Resilience Planning program.

Farmer’s Day Out is being promoted as a chance for farmers to come together with others in the industry and build connections.

The keynote speaker will be Global Agritrends Downunder founder Simon Quilty, who provides independent analysis on global beef, pork and poultry markets.

An independent analyst and consultant, Mr Quilty brokers meat swaps and physical product worldwide, and works closely with producers and exporters.

Communications and podcast business specialist Kirsten Diprose, who lives on a sheep and cropping property near Caramut, will act as MC on the day, which will also feature industry figures on a panel titled Farmers Doing it Differently: Innovation in Ag.

Ms Diprose said she was approached by Commerce Ballarat take on the compere’s role and was very happy to do so.

“I thought it was a fantastic idea and (said) I would love to come on board and help out,” she said.

Ms Diprose agreed the event was timely because much of western Victoria was still experiencing drought conditions when the approach was made, and then bushfires ravaged the state last month.

“Farming and agriculture is the best industry and the best job you could possibly have, but there are things that have made it particularly hard of late,” she said.

“The concept of just having a break and getting together to enjoy each other’s company, collaborate, and work on the business rather than taking the day-to-day is a brilliant idea.”

The panel, meanwhile, will be facilitated by Lachlan McKenzie of McKenzie Ag and will feature Australian Plant Proteins CEO Phil McFarlane; Oakdale Meat Co CEO Brooke Dawson; Farm Tender, Delay Pay and The Farmers Club founder Dwain Duxon; and Alistair Ham of Windermere Oil Seeds.

The workshops schedule includes agribusiness tourism with Marcus Warner of Pepo Farms, securing the future of farms with Luke Dunne of Heinz Law, and the business of farming with Ewen Fletcher of Progress Accounting.

Others will be focused on creating happy farm workplaces with the National Centre for Farmers Health and a session on AI in agriculture with Ben Finkel of the Australian Regional AI Network.

Organisations and services that support farming such as Agriculture Victoria and the National Centre for Farmers’ Health, the Victorian Farmers Federation, and Rural Financial Counselling Services will host information stalls.

Food from growers and producers from the Central Highlands region will be available to purchase throughout the day.