Teaching kids about agriculture

BY AARON NATOLI PROJECT MANAGER, PERTH NRM

With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, food security has been increasingly prevalent in our daily discussions.

Part of food security is having younger generations coming through to continue the great work done by those who have come before them. So, how do we get the next generation interested in farming when there are less families involved in farming? As an extension of the “Food You Can Trust” initiative, WAFarmers is embarking on a journey to bring the farm to primary school students. Federally funded over the next two years, WAFarmers will be targeting year six students with the program running for three weeks. The program has three components for delivery. The first component is 250 minutes (or five lessons) of learning about different agricultural industries including: • Vegetables • Fruit • Broadacre • Dairy • Livestock • Fibre (Wool and Cotton) • Soil and Climate • Seafood. This in-class learning will address year six curriculum, including the concept of scarcity revolving around finite environmental resources to meet the needs of the local and global populations. Lessons will highlight the alternative use of resources resulting in the need to consider trade-offs (e.g. using the land to grow crops or to graze cattle). Students will also learn about the impact consumer purchasing decisions can have on a family, the broader community (e.g. purchasing from the local growers’ market or a supermarket chain) and the environment (e.g. pollution, waste). In week three, there will be a “Mini Agricultural Day Incursion” where students will interact with live production farm animals and real-life farmers in their own school. This will give students the look, touch and feel of agriculture and will explain to them both the benefits and what is required to have a career in agriculture. Students will also get the opportunity to ask pertinent questions that matter to them about real-life farmers, aimed at satisfying their curiosity about agriculture. This experience is limited to the first 75 schools that take up the program in any given year.

Teaching the next generation about food production.

PHOTO © CATHY BROAD, IONA PRESENTATION COLLEGE

To tie the learning and understanding of the first two activities, each student will get a take home an Augmented Reality storybook about agriculture. The story will be about two city kids (boy and a girl) who go on an agricultural adventure including picking vegetables, fishing on a boat and driving a tractor. In this storybook, half the story takes place on the page and the other half of the story takes place in augmented reality, to make a truly unique and immersive experience. WAFarmers is currently looking for volunteer vegetable and fruit growers who would like to take part in the school day incursions in 2021 and 2022. A Working with Children Check will be required and we encourage growers (including those recently retired) who have time available to join us in shaping the next generation of agriculture.

MORE INFORMATION

Contact Aaron Natoli from WAFarmers on 0488 779 038 or email aaronnatoli@

wafarmers.org.au

market your

Is your business suitable for export?

BY MANUS STOCKDALE EXPORT DEVELOPMENT PROJECT LEAD, VEGETABLESWA

During the past two and a half years of the Export Facilitator Project, we’ve developed a list of the characteristics of business that successfully incorporated export into their enterprise.

To be successful in export, businesses need to have a long-termfocus.

3 MOST importers are looking for a supplier that can provide all of their requirements for as long as possible.

This is not an exhaustive list and businesses don’t necessarily need to have all of these attributes to be successful but they certainly help. These factors can be divided into three categories: business management, supply and marketing (see Table 1).

TABLE 1. 1 SUCCESSFUL EXPORT BUSINESS FACTORS. Business Management

a Have a business plan or at least a longer-term strategic vision for their business.

To be successful in export, businesses need to have a long-term focus and a desire to strategically expand their market options rather than a focus on short-term opportunities.

b Record and analyse the cost of production of vegetables produced and are not purely focused on price.

To be successful in export growers need to know what it costs them to produce the vegetables that they are exporting.

Export prices are not always higher than domestic prices, but they are often more stable and volumes more consistent so knowing cost of production is key to making sure export sales are profitable and add value to the business as a whole.

The advantage to the grower’s business in pursuing an export market that has longer term stable volume and pricing is that profitability then lies within their control (by driving efficiencies and reducing cost of production) as compared to a traditional volatile domestic wholesale market channel.

c Have high enough equity levels in their business that they can absorb potential short-term losses for longer term gain in an export market.

The initial risks and costs of new export business can be high and therefore businesses need to have enough financial reserves to cover any losses and business development costs.

While exporting vegetables to overseas markets might seem complicated, most of the skills and knowledge used to sell vegetables to domestic markets are transferable. So, if your business supplies the major retailers in Australia you could easily be supplying overseas customers and diversifying your

Business factors; business management, supply and marketing.

3 GROWERS that don’t have the capability to process vegetables for sale within their own business will struggle to be successful at export sales.

2Supply

a Have a long supply window or large volume of the vegetable line in a narrow window.

Most importers are looking for a supplier that can provide all of their requirements for as long as possible (unless they have a particular requirement for a niche supply over a short period). There are also economies of scale for freight by both air and sea with larger container sizes leading to significantly lower per kilogram cost, so growers should aim to supply the largest volume that the customer can handle in each consignment.

b Possess the capability to process and/or pack vegetables for retail sale.

Generally exporting growers need to be able to supply vegetables to overseas customers in a format that is ready for retail or wholesale sale. Growers that don’t have the capability to process vegetables for sale within their own business will struggle to be successful at export sales.

c Supply domestic markets (usually direct to retail).

Having a demonstrated capability to supply to local domestic customers provides overseas importers with a level of confidence about the grower’s ability to supply on time and to the quality required. Supplying export customers requires the same management and skills as domestic markets, with a few additional complexities and longer lead times for orders.

business and spreading your risk. If you’d like to find out more about export and how we can help you to get into export please contact me.

MORE INFORMATION

Manus Stockdale on (08) 9486 7515 or

manus.stockdale@vegetableswa.com.au

Marketing a Have their own brand and packaging. 3 Export customers generally want to buy produce that is branded and identifiable as Australian, so it is important for growers to have a clear brand and packaging. Having readily recognisable packaging and branding also helps build a grower’s reputation which may lead to more customers and sales.

b Have some understanding of export market opportunities and an open mind to adapt products to meet overseas customer preferences.

Having an appreciation for the size of the opportunity in export markets and a desire to succeed is essential. Growers that understand that overseas customers have different buying behaviour and preferences to Australians and are willing to remain flexible and modify the size or packaging of their product are more likely to be successful.

c Have someone in the business who is willing and able to manage export enquiries and business.

Managing export enquiries requires time and patience and while it is not necessarily a full-time role to begin with, it does need to be allocated to someone in the business that has the time and the interest to do the job properly. Understanding and being sensitive to cultural differences and the expectations of overseas customers is also important.