16 March 2021. By AgForce Reef Taskforce Chair Alex Stubbs. Also published at Queensland Country Life.
Agricultural science and agronomy are courses you can study at university and many of us working in agriculture have done so.
Even the farmer in the paddock, who might not have ever formally studied, works within the basic principles of science to ensure they manage their land, water, and their livestock in an ethical, sustainable way to produce high-quality food and fibre year after year.
More than being students of the classroom or laboratory we are, perhaps most importantly, students of the land.
Which is why we recognise when we’re being served up science fiction, the type that’s used more and more by some green groups and environmental scientists to deliver headlines and roast scapegoats to justify their existence and secure their next research grant.
Make no mistake, it’s a business, sophisticated, calculated, no doubt founded on the same idealistic principals – love of the environment, of plants and animals – agriculture itself holds dear.
Agriculture, possibly naively, has however avoided the types of grandstanding and witch hunts made commonplace by greens groups, instead relying steadfastly on facts.
Recently, to support our position, we’ve been calling on the Federal Government to establish an Office of Science Integrity to guarantee quality assurance of the science that supports areas like water quality, including in the Reef, land condition, red meat, and more.
What we’re after is an organisation free from political or environmental ideology that has the expertise to guarantee the science underpinning any government-imposed regulations holds up under the most rigorous scrutiny – in stark contrast to what has been delivered and publicised by greens groups – and to support industries beyond our own.
Agriculture might not have the financial clout or sheer weight of numbers enjoyed by WWF and their army of foot soldiers, but we’re not going away without a fight.
So, if like us you want to see agriculture survive and even flourish, share this article on social media using the hashtag #sciencesense and tag your federal MP to let them know you support us.
WWF, green groups, and some Reef-funded scientists aren’t the only ones with a social and environmental conscience – but they are the ones cherry-picking the science, putting at risk the future food supply for all of us.