APEN 2001 International Conference

Toowoomba, 4th-5th October 2001

Report No:

38

Title of Topic:

Sustainability in Agriculture – Skills for Extension Officers

Name of Leader:

Dan McLuskey

Names of Participants:

Liz Otto, Maxine Schoche, Dean Holland, Sue Heisswolf, John Bagshaw, Daniel Armstrong

Main points of discussion

• Sustainability is a very complex issue
• Producers may be being forced to farm sustainably
• Producers in Aust probably do not know how to farm sustainably
• Aust is the most urbanised nation on the planet and behaves in a grossly unsustainably way
• Urbanites are forcing values onto primary producers which they refuse to adopt themselves
• There is no clear understanding of what sustainable agriculture, or sustainable society means, nor how to do it, so how can plans be put in place
• Extension officers are expected to introduce and discuss sustainability in natural resource workshops, but do not know what it means, nor how to do it
• Do extension practitioners need different skills to the technical skills which they now have?