Ekka proves an eye-opening experience

We help generate green electricity to power homes and we create sustainable biofuels that lower prices at the pump. We drive massive export industries that contribute tens of billions of dollars to the nation’s economy every year.

But, despite all this, we can often feel misunderstood.

As we deal with all the physical, financial, and regulatory burdens that come with the job, we can sometimes feel that folks from the city just don’t get it.

They don’t understand the challenges we face to ensure they have the food and fibre they need. In fact, they may even have negative views about agriculture.

I know because, as a sugarcane grower from the Burdekin region, I’ve been guilty of this myself on occasion.

But, if evidence was needed that our city friends do in fact appreciate farmers and care about regional communities, it was on full display at last week’s Royal Queensland Show in Brisbane.

During the week, I had the privilege of working on the sugarcane industry stand for an afternoon and it was a truly enjoyable and eye-opening experience.

Far from getting negativity or questions about the reef and the environment, as I had expected, I was surprised by how interested and enthusiastic people were about the industry.

It was amazing to realise how many people have a connection to sugarcane, whether through family or friends, having worked in the industry, or having visited cane-growing regions as children.

So many people just wanted to come to the stand and reflect on their positive experiences with our industry.

I was only there for one afternoon, but over the course of the nine-day event around 10,000 came through the sugarcane stand, which was one of the biggest attractions in the Ekka’s Ag Hall.

Once again, we had a virtual reality experience, which took people on a journey through the industry, from planting and growing through to harvesting, milling, and exporting raw sugar.

This was a huge drawcard, with people of all ages and walks of life enjoying the immersive experience. And the feedback was one hundred percent positive.

Overall, working on the Ekka stand was a very positive personal experience, and one that I would encourage more farmers to try if they get the opportunity.

Talking to hundreds of people as they came through the stand made me realise that by-and-large city folk appreciate the work farmers do and care about our agricultural communities.

They may not always know about or understand all the challenges, but they’re interested, and they care.

That’s why I am really proud of the significant efforts CANEGROWERS is going to every day to work harder to get the positive stories about agriculture out to the whole community.

The Ekka’s Sugarcane Industry stand is hosted by CANEGROWERS, with strong support from Sunshine Sugar, Sugar Research Australia, and the Queensland Farmers’ Federation.