Might surgeons and pathologists also make great butchers? Can they fillet fish?

And what does former fast bowler Glenn McGrath have to do with it?

The Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association (TFGA) is about to reveal why the medicos should stick to what they know.

It is bringing Victorian Bob Dewar, a.k.a. Bob the Butcher, to Agfest in May to demonstrate how to cut up a carcass into its various cuts.

Next to him will be chef Daniel Alps from Alps & Amici, who will take the cuts and prepare them for people to taste.

Above them, the TFGA will have two giant plasma TV screens so that everyone will be able to see why specialist surgery skills are not a prerequisite for carving your own but why it certainly would help if you start off with a sharp knife. You’ll even be told how to sharpen it.

Dewar, who ran butcher’s shops at Wangaratta for years, and the chef Alps will give five demonstrations of their skills at the TFGA’s Agfest site: two on the opening day, Thursday May 3, two on Friday May 4 and one Saturday May 5.

McGrath, one of Australia’s most admired and respected figures, will also be at the TFGA pavilion during on May 3 and 4.

McGrath is not only the most successful fast bowler in the history of Test cricket and as well known for his McGrath Foundation for breast cancer awareness, he is also a farmer. It is wearing this cap that he is an ambassador for the Australian Year of the Farmer (AYOF) and that is why he is coming to Agfest.

McGrath was born and bred on a 500 ha sheep and wheat farm near Narromine in NSW and today has a 12,000 ha farm north-west of Bourke that his brother runs.

His role as an AYOF ambassador is to promote a greater understanding among the general public of the crucial role that farmers play in the Australian economy. Therefore, what better place for him to be than at Agfest with the AYOF Roadshow and spreading the message at the TFGA pavilion (501 Fifth Avenue) during the Thursday afternoon and Friday morning ‘live’ carcass demo.

There will be five sessions:
1. Thursday, May 3: 11.00 am-12.30 pm, 2.00 pm-3.30 pm;
2. Friday, May 4: 11.00 am-12.30 pm, 2.00 pm-3.30 pm;
3. Saturday, May 5: 10.00 am-11.30 am.

“This is going to be a perfect example of what Agfest and the TFGA are each all about: bringing the city and the bush, consumers and producers, closer together, in the same tent, literally,” TFGA chief executive Jan Davis said today.

“This is the Australian Year of the Farmer and that involves us in a comprehensive communications exercise of what we do, what we produce and how we do it.

“Butchering and preparing meat for the table is part of the paddock-to-plate nexus that farmers have to relay. What better way to do it?”

The TFGA will share its Agfest site with our business partner, the farm insurer WFI.

Also within the tent will be:

• the Skills Institute, which offers specialist expertise in training for agriculture and forestry;
• the National Broadband Network;
• Meat and Livestock Australia;
• Sheep Connect;
• the National Harvest Labour Information Service, which aims to connect job seekers with growers, and
• P.A.S.S, Proactive Agricultural Safety and Support, which promotes on-farm safety awareness and practices.
Jan Davis http://www.tfga.com.au/