Australian National Field Days feature exhibitor DPI unveils showcase
Australian National Field Days feature exhibitor DPI unveils showcase
THIS year’s feature exhibitor at the Australian National Field Days was the Department of Primary Industries. On ANFD’s opening day a new era for DPI was launched, a website purely directed at young farmers.
It came about after earlier this year, the NSW DPI approached young farmer and ag-entrepreneur, Airlie Landale with a bold offer.
The department wanted to build website for young farmers and fishers to help with business skills.
Program coordinator Alexandra Hicks knew young farmers wanted an online hub that had to be simple, but she didn’t want to recreate the wheel, so she turned to Ms Landale, who founded the Farm Table website.
“Working with Farm Table just made sense,” said Ms Hicks. “The need for a one-stop-shop website for business information and resources emerged as a result of a survey conducted by the Young Farmer Business Program in 2017,” she said.
“The survey also highlighted Farm Table as a recognised source of information for young farmers and fishers, so the Young Farmer Business Program saw an opportunity to collaborate.”
Based on a mixed farm near Deniliquin, Airlie Landale said she was humbled to be approached by the Young Farmer Business Project working group, which is a joint initiative between NSW DPI and NSW Farmers.
“It was a great honour. Also, having a government department keen to work together with a farmer-led startup, rather ‘doing it on their own’ was honestly a little bit of a surprise and an innovative move for the DPI.
