Registrations have opened for the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association’s policy forum to be held in Launceston on July 2 and 3.
Think Outside the Square is a true forum, a melting pot of thoughts, ideas and suggestions regarding the major issues facing our rural industries in Tasmania. This year the TFGA will have fewer presenters and more grass roots open discussions.
“We all know that the landscape in agriculture is changing. Irrigation is revolutionising Tasmanian agriculture. It is opening up the potential for greater diversification and greater intensification of what we are able to produce and where we can produce it,” President Wayne Johnston said today.
“Foreign investors are showing unprecedented interest in property holdings, primary production and the processing sector. At the same time, our exporters are both adventurous and imaginative and are seizing prospects who provide counter-seasonal produce, particularly for the Asian market.”
The essence of this year’s policy forum is to focus on some significant agricultural issues and to share knowledge – farmer talking to farmer, farmers talking to processors, farmers talking to regulators. We want input into the real issues that we all face as farmers in Tasmania today, all the while hoping to maximise the potential of our businesses.
The Policy Forum will be held at Country Club Tasmania on Thursday, July 2 and there will be a field day on Friday, July 3. A major dinner will be held on the evening of July 2, with Max Walker as TFGA’s guest speaker.
The format of this Policy Forum is for four separate break-out sessions in the morning aimed at those with a particular interest in the sector – Freight, Local Government, Energy and Agricultural Export Opportunities. Those groups will come together later in the day to present summaries of their deliberations so that the full forum can debate the issues and come to some constructive conclusions.
Deputy Premier and Primary Industries Minister Jeremy Rockliff will officially open the Policy Forum.
Registrations close June 19, 2015. Click here to register.
TFGA chief executive Peter Skillern
