Australian farmers are in prime position to promote Australia's clean and green image - against apparent evidence from detractors, conference attendees were advised during the Nature Based Solutions conference in Brisbane held this week.
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And everyone involved in agriculture must call out fake claims of sustainable production,
Australia's first special representative for Australian agriculture, Su McCluskey, said Australia's story about sustainability, traceability and food safety was world leading and everyone involved needed to work together as "team Australia" in the face of counter claims particularly from Europe.
"Agriculture can and must be an answer to climate mitigations," the Yass farmer told her audience. We must talk more about agricultural food systems. We must step-up and take leadership in global engagement."
While ideological pushback continues to come from Europe working to degrade the reputation of red meat and our livestock industry, she reminded farmers that other premium markets exist closer to home.
Ms McCluskey recently returned from a tour of South America, Asia, the US and Europe, including Ireland, where farmers are working as "Team Ireland" to promote their green production. She said Australia must continue to articulate that farming in this country with its diverse environments is "principal based, not prescriptive".
"Social licence is key in Europe and most influential on politicians who have helped create hard-hitting legislation driven by ideology," she reported.
"We have to demonstrate our credentials and look after the land for the next generation."
Ms McCluskey re-iterated the mantra of this conference that data is king when she emphasised the need to measure "when no one size fits all".
"We need to modify the indicators like chemical use per hectare. We have the lowest pesticide use in the world. We need to talk this up. We need to take a team Australia approach because we have a great story to tell."
