From Plate to Paddock: The future of agriculture education in schools
Unearthed: The people changing Australian agricultureShow Notes
With more than 50% of school children believing that cows are milked by hand, and that the only career available in agriculture is to be a farmer, something needed to change in the education system. So all 15 Rural Research and Development Corporations banded together to develop Australia’s first National Schools Food and Fibre Strategy, which was launched by AgriFutures in November. This episode of Unearthed explores the pressing need for skilled professionals in Australian agriculture, including more agricultural teachers, as well as some of the techniques being used to attract more city kids to be a part of the agricultural industry.
More from Unearthed: The people changing Australian agriculture
When a milking shed becomes a classroom, eyes light up, brains are activated and lifelong memories are made. Narelle Zanker's 'have a crack' attitude dramatically altered her career path from promising young teacher to the title of AgriFutures 2026 Rural Woman of the Year. Her business Dairy Adventures combines her love of education and agriculture in a farm tour experience that has attracted more than 2000 visitors since opening less than two years ago, and in doing so she is blazing a new trail for bridging the city-country divide.
Kelly Shotton is a pilot, an electrician and a marathon runner. She designed an app to monitor livestock watering points on remote stations and won the NT Rural Woman of the Year award. Now she's the AgriFutures National Rural Women's Award Runner Up. Her former boss Anna Cochrane says Kelly is one of the most determined people she’s ever met, and regardless of the challenges and struggles, she always achieves her goals.
Meet the Australian farmers boldly going where no farmer has gone before, applying technology that can manage a crop down to individual plant level, and using a staff of hyper-cybernetic robots to manage their operations.
In a crowded era of agtech innovation and hype, what sets the Rice Dashboard apart from the pack? The decision support platform has been adopted by 95% of Australia's rice growers - an incredible success considering that 90% of agtech start ups don't survive. So what did the developer's of the Rice Dashboard do right? It started with a whole of industry approach connecting everyone from growers to researchers.
Big capital meets big questions for Australian agriculture: Institutional investment in Australian farmland is increasingly becoming a defining force for agriculture. Capital unlocks innovation and scale, but what are the trade-offs? In this episode of Unearthed, we hear from Liam Lenaghan of GO.FARM and Jaclyn Hope from LAWD, both panel guests at evokeAG earlier this year, where they discussed the pros and cons of institutional investment in Australian agriculture.