Jan Davis: So, as we move into another Agfest …

Hands up all those of you who can remember the world ploughing championships being held at Longford.

Which year was it?

Whose paddocks were ploughed up?

Who was the Prime Minister at the time?

Well done if you answered June 1982, Martin Dumaresq’s Mount Ireh property, and Malcolm Fraser was the keenly interested prime minister (because at that stage he still had a farm).
Quite literally, this was the biggest event to happen to Tasmania since they stopped the car races just round the corner. An estimated 40,000 people turned up in inclement weather to watch cockies from 20 or so countries steer their tractors straight and true up and down Mt Ireh’s flat-as-a-pancake paddocks.

In those paddocks was sowed the seed of an idea that eventually germinated in Agfest.

Some visionary members of Rural Youth saw an opportunity in the public reaction to the ploughing championships to encourage the broader community to interact more with farming activities. People like Noel Beven, now one of our TFGA directors, could have had no idea of the journey they were embarking on, or of how successful their efforts to bridge the gap between town and country would be.

The first Agfest was held in May 1983 at Symmons Plains. It had 111 exhibitors and 9000 visitors. Thirty years on, Rural Youth now owns Quercus Park, the Agfest site at Carrick. The event attracts more than 65,000 people over three days in the first week in May each year. It is the biggest single event on the Tasmanian calendar; and it is entirely run by a volunteer army of motivated and organised Rural Youth members and supporters.

Agfest is not just the best showcase of our industry to the world; not just the best one-stop shop for getting up-to-date on the latest trends in farming; it is a demonstration in its purest form of what people, predominantly young people, can achieve when they have a common goal. I mean, you enter the Agfest site and watch the military precision with which you are shown to your car parking space. Vulnerable nations have fallen to lesser armies.

Next week, you will find TFGA in our usual spot at 501 Fifth Avenue. (Donald Trump, eat your heart out.)

This year, we are offering a spot for a chat and a chance to catch up with mates or meet new people; or to take a break in navigating the avenues of stands offering everything from log truck jinkers to those wonderful block and tackle systems for removing the engine from your car with one hand tied behind your back.

Inside, take the chance to say hello to the TFGA team members, as well as sundry and various farmers – the cast will vary from time to time. We’re also being joined by a bunch of really interesting people. Some of business partners and corporate friends will be there, including the ANZ Bank, Telstra WFI, and Animal Control Technologies. You’ll also be able to catch up with a number of groups who provide advice and support to farmers, including: Sense-T, the people behind the remarkable sensor technology that is going to revolutionise how we farm in the future; the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, our unique research organisation; and representatives from the three Tasmanian NRM groups.

Agfest is a subtle muscle-flexing exercise for our industry. It is an opportunity for us to remind people that agriculture is a $2 billion a year business in Tasmania. Other industries come and go, but farming has been the backbone of the economy from day one – and we continue to evolve, improve and refine what we do.

So, as we move into another Agfest, we say thank you to Martin Dumaresq and the people who secured the ploughing championships back in 1982; thank you to Rural Youth members, past and present; thank you to all of the exhibitors; and, importantly, thank you to all the people who come from near and far, town and country, every year to share the excitement generated by the Tasmanian agriculture industry.
Jan Davis, TFGA CEO, Tasmanian Country Column today