Friday 17 November is ‘Ag Day Au’, a day where the agriculture industry and the hundreds of thousands of people employed in it are fittingly acknowledged and celebrated.
Victoria, and in particular my Eastern Victoria electorate is home to world class food and fibre producers.
Statistically speaking Victoria does much of the heavy lifting when it comes to agriculture in Australia.
Our farmers produce 64 per cent of the nation’s milk, 47 per cent of the nation’s lamb, 70 per cent of the nation’s table and dried grapes, 35 per cent of nations fruit and nuts, 22 per cent of the nation’s vegetable, 21 per cent of the nation’s beef and 17 per cent of the nation’s grain.
Agriculture also contributes massively to our export markets with total food and fibre exports contributing a whopping $17.9 billion to the economy.
All this produce originates from the 21,600 registered farm businesses across in regional and peri urban Victoria – they are impressive statistics.
Growing up on a dairy farm is something I will always cherish, it provided me with an understanding of the challenges and tractor loads of hard work required to produce quality food from paddock to plate.
This year, may I take the opportunity on Ag Day Au to go further than a ‘shout out’ to our wonderful farmers across regional Victoria.
The Nationals know Ag Day Au is a chance to raise awareness of the high quality produce our farmers prepare for us all from behind the farm gate.
For those of us who live in the regions, we understand the importance production, processing, manufacturing, transport, marketing and all the workers that underpin of the supply chain.
This Ag Day Au let us celebrate all those workers who are an integral part of our high quality food and fibre sector.
A sincere thank you to all our fabulous farmers and their families for your role in feeding and clothing us.
