Primary producers must look beyond productivity and profitability to consider wider concerns, the Minister for Primary Industries, Water and Environment Bryan Green said today. Mr Green was speaking at the Australasia Pacific Extension Network Forum, which will discuss the need for inter-related disciplines for today’s modern farmer. “Once upon a time agriculture was considered a relatively simple endeavour and the role of the extension agent was to transfer technology to improve productivity and profitability,’’ Mr Green said. “Time and improved knowledge have changed that view.”

“Today primary producers must look beyond their productivity and profitability to embrace inter-related concerns about food safety & quality, occupational health and safety, animal welfare, rural communities, and environmental issues on a local, regional and global scale.”

Mr Green said the old view that farmers or land managers are passive recipients of knowledge that is generated on research farms and in laboratories has also changed.

“It is now recognised that forcing change onto farmers and rural communities will not work,” he said. “Instead, research and extension providers need to work with land managers in a participatory way, listening to what they say about issues, and working collaboratively to achieve common and acceptable outcomes.”

He said the primary intention of the conference is assist extension agents strike the right balance on these types of issues by facilitating thinking about, ‘What is extension?’ ‘How it is done?’ and ‘How can it be improved?’

“Within Tasmania, agricultural extension, development and research programs have been guided by industry plans put together by farmers and industry stakeholders working together with government,” Mr Green said.

“We now have industry plans for our dairy, red meat, wool, vegetable and horticultural industries.” Mr Green said over the next few months DPIWE staff will take the participatory approach a step further by developing Industry Action Partnerships as part of the State of Growth initiative.

These partnerships may be formed with regions, individual companies, groups of producers or key sectors. “I believe our State of Growth initiative is based on sound extension principles because it seeks to work with rural communities and industry to identify where government can best allocate its resources to achieve long-term sustainable growth,” Mr Green said.

This initiative/program is part of the State Government’s commitment to progressing

Tasmania Together Goal 17: Maximise the opportunities available through information and other technologies.

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