LINKING farmers to the city and teaching children where their food comes from are key battlegrounds for agriculture the world over, according to renowned Swiss agriculture advocate Markus Rediger.
Mr Rediger is editor and managing director of the independent Agricultural Information Centre LID in Berne, says farmers must learn to promote themselves in urban circles and help expose young people to agriculture at the earliest opportunity if they want to prosper.
Mr Rediger arrived from Switzerland this week for a nationwide speaking tour that kicked off in Sydney and will culminate in an international agricultural journalists conference in Cairns next week.
The president of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists was passionate about building the best possible future for farming when he spoke as a guest of the Farm Writers's Association of NSW on Monday.
Mr Rediger said the agriculture sector must learn to promote itself in the community or risk being overshadowed and pushed aside for competing industries.
"(Farmers) cannot afford to not promote positive images and messages about agriculture," Mr Rediger said.
"And we must also see the importance of independent agricultural journalism in bridging the divide between agriculture and the city."
Mr Rediger spoke about the turnaround in fortunes for Swiss agriculture since 1998, when farmers' image suffered from difficult political debates.
He highlighted the decision by the Swiss Farmers' Association in building a long-term image campaign called "Swiss Farmers Welcome You", which has been continuously extended and comprises various sub-projects, including recruiting Swiss celebrities to wear eidelweiss-printed shirts for the cause.
The Farm Writers event saw Mr Rediger also join a discussion panel with The Land Editor Andrew Norris, Sean Murphy from ABC Landline, and Meat and Livestock Australia community engagement manager Jax Batista.