Seasonal challenges, livestock management, mental health, finance and advocacy will be topics of conversation in a full day of speakers at an AgConnectWA conference held in Northam later this month.
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Held at the Bridgeley Community Centre in Northam, on Friday, May 31, the event will be opened by Agricultural Region MLC, Colin de Grussa, The Nationals WA, and will feature speakers from The Livestock Collective, Milne Feeds, Elders and Women in Farming.
AgConnectWA president, Sophie Wooldridge, said the unfavourable seasonal conditions over the past six to 12 months were a completely new challenge for early career farmers who may never have experienced drought during their working lives.
"And to add to that, what is going on with the government, and government policy is making things quite stressful at the moment," Ms Wooldridge said.
"I hope the day will give them the skills to manage the things they can control."
The program has a strong focus on supporting sheep producers, but will be as broad as possible to cater for audience members from across WA.
"I'm hoping that the take home message is that people are not alone, things are not always going to be challenging, we're going to be back to the good times at some point but we just have to get out to the other side," Ms Wooldridge said.
A similar event held last year was a sell-out, attracting about 100 people.
The conference is free for students to attend, thanks to CBH Group sponsorship.
The event will also be attended by representatives from conference sponsors Elders, Milne Feeds, AgWorld, Byfields, Women in Farming, NuFarm, Grain Growers Limited, Louis Dreyfus Company and Rural Focus, providing opportunities for young farmers to network and ask questions.
- More information: Go to the wafarmers.org.au/agconnectwa/ or the AgConnectWA Facebook page.
Perri Polson
Perri is an agriculture journalist with Farm Weekly. Born in regional Victoria, Perri developed a love of regional and rural news at a young age, and is now passionate about advocating for the agricultural industry. Her interests include science, agronomy, livestock and food production.
Perri is an agriculture journalist with Farm Weekly. Born in regional Victoria, Perri developed a love of regional and rural news at a young age, and is now passionate about advocating for the agricultural industry. Her interests include science, agronomy, livestock and food production.
