23 January 2024. Michael Guerin, AgForce CEO.
With January already slipping through our fingers - we can still hold onto the last vestiges of celebrating the new year by looking back and recognising our achievements and looking forward to what lies ahead.
And it’s the same for AgForce, with our 5500 member strong not-for-profit organisation about to acknowledge a significant milestone - turning 25 this year.
In 1999, Agriculture Industry leaders from around Queensland took the bold step of bringing together disparate producers from cattle, grain and grazier groups, in the belief that unity would deliver better results for all.
And now a quarter of a century later, AgForce stands as proof of that ideal. It has grown in strength over each of those 25 years and delivered burgeoning benefits on the back of that.
Coincidently, with the benefit of that experience, we again stand at a critical moment for our industry. Land use and other critical issues confront us, just as polls for the upcoming state election tell us we have leverage.
Over the next few weeks, AgForce will launch a series of initiatives designed to capitalise on this solid foundation and reset some conversations vital to the future of producers throughout regional Queensland.
These combined projects will lead to the state industry conference on the first and second of October this year, where we intend on bringing all of these conversations together.
Its an exciting time for Agriculture, as we can lead the way by showing how to be part of the solutions needed across environmental, social, economic and community dimensions.
It would be remiss of me as we approach this juncture not to acknowledge the current State Government for adopting all our Land Use Protection Principles in their recent release on proposed reform of the Lake Eyre Basin. This shows the value of the long-form work AgForce does so well.
AgForce will release different elements of our 2024 program over the next few weeks. This is the moment to unify industry around an opportunity borne from the vision of AgForce’s founding members, and reinforced by the current external circumstances facing our industry. Let’s not let the opportunity pass.