NSW Farmers are plotting a new destiny to remain "sustainable", accepting small farmers as permanent members and encouraging younger farmers to take up membership.
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Farmers chief executive Peter Arkle told the 2019 farmers conference in Sydney the farmers' body needed to get on a "sustainable path", after reporting another operating loss.
He said there was a number of areas for NSW Farmers to build on including making sure smaller farmers were part of the future of NSW.
"This is important and will help them become good neighbours," he said.
The organisation also had to address the issue of attracting "millenials" - people born around the time of turn of the century who are becoming a major part of the world economy.
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He said it was silly under current membership rules to call anyone aged under 35 as "young", and Farmers needed to modernise to make sure millenial farmers feel they would benefit from joining NSW Farmers.
"These millenials have different needs and want to feel connected and want to know that joining a body will increase the performance of their farm." he said. It's no longer about having a "good feel" of being part of a "collective good".
"We need to adjust to this new reality. We need to get better at connecting with these younger members."
Farmers already has a younger members side group that contributes to policy direction.
Farmers had to tackle a number of disruptive forces attacking agriculture. There were some exciting projects that NSW Farmers were an integral part of including the Agri Precinct at the new international airport in western Sydney and also the Co-operative Research Centre, Future Food Systems, that Farmers helped initiate.
Mr Arkle said it was good to see a number of rejuvenated branches including Croppa Creek, North Star and Young attending the conference. He said the Farmer magazine had helped boost membership, encouraging 915 lapsed members to renew their membership. It said it was important though to get the magazine on a "sustainable path".
He said Farmers engagement with NSW Government was second to none with 88 separate ministerial meetings in the last 4 years and that the bulk of the the Association's $4bn request to support pillars of investment for regional NSW had been accepted by the re-elected Coalition government, after the March election.