Shrinking regional populations, loss of political representation, struggling regional health care and education and our youth leaving the bush, are discussions that seem to go in circles.
Is this because we are failing to address the elephant in the room?
Farm consolidation is the economist’s answer to remaining viable through efficiency of scale.
This strategy is not bad, except that in pursuing it wholly, our politicians and policy makers seem to have written off small and medium farms.
One example was Joel Fitzgibbon’s comments in October last year when he said agriculture’s future will be funded by big name farming and mining players.
He’s right that they have a significant role to play, but he’s making a mistake to write off small and medium farms.
They have a critical role to play in maintaining regional communities.
This is where our policy makers have dropped the ball. We need better structures, especially those that assist skills development in potential future farmers.
It’s not just about having an ag degree. Goal setting, marketing, financial skills, the ability to manage people and the ability to be adaptable and entrepreneurial are all needed by a modern farmer.
The structures, such as Local Land Services, TAFE and Landcare that could deliver such training already exist.
A range of business models exist that allow farmers to position their businesses to take control of what they’re paid.
But for many wanna be farmers, having the know-how to set and execute such goals takes great skill in a deregulated, global market.
And letting go of that city salary and taking hold of the new responsibility can be daunting. How a small to medium farm needs to be run has changed, but largely, our mind set hasn’t kept up.
If the government was smart, it would realise the farming sector could grow if it addressed this. Instead, it’s largely stuck in 1980s thinking the only answer is to get bigger.
Just as Mal Peters explained in his column, “From the back paddock”, last week, we need to stop thinking and planning in “silos”.
This week has also seen the federal senate inquiry into decentralisation – another area where going against economic rationalism can benefit the bush. We don’t need hand outs to revitalise our regions. We just need smarter planning at all levels.
Don’t write off family farms. Rural Australia needs them. And there is plenty of space for them to be successful alongside the corporate outfits.