Woolworths Ag Business Scholarship Wrap-up

The 2012 Woolworths Agricultural Business Scholarship finally comes to a close.

Wow - what a busy two weeks! Week one was only a warm-up compared to the intense timetable the Agscholars had for week two at the Woolworths Agricultural Business Scholarship program!

We covered a huge range of topics, including

• presentations from industry experts on the BIG issues and challenges facing Australian agriculture,
• discussions around agricultural education of the broader community,
• tour of a Woolworths distribution centre which is the key part of getting that great, fresh Australian produce to the store shelf,
• guided visit of a Woolworths store to explore the new concepts and innovative ideas to provide the best fresh food solutions to consumers,
• rubbed shoulders with some industry champions at the 2012 National Landcare Awards
• leadership development workshops
• & experienced a new perspective of Sydney - from on top of the Bridge!

Needless to say I can not fit all of that in this post!

Watch this space - I will fill you in on all the details on some of these amazing sessions soon!

Being able to participate in discussions facing Australian agriculture and our rural communities with some of the brightest young minds the industry has to offer was truly a great experience.  It challenged me to think outside the square and was great to have other young people that are passionate about their industry to share and bounce ideas around with. The passion these young people have for Australian agriculture is remarkable and assures me the future of Australian agriculture is bright if we have these young people heading up our approach to the challenges and our industry will face.

The Woolworths Agricultural Business Scholarship was an invaluable experience and I am very grateful for the opportunity to participate - a big thank you to the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW for supporting the growth and development of young people with a passion for agriculture.

If you are looking for an opportunity to network with other like-minded young people with a passion for agriculture, learn about the supply chain from several different perspectives as well as further your own professional development I highly recommend applying for the Woolworths Agricultural Business Scholarship - you will be amazed what doors it may open for you.

Thank you very much Woolworths (shout out to Katie Poray for all her great work!) for conducting this program and providing us with such a great opportunity. Your support of the youth of Australian agriculture is greatly appreciated. Thank you.



Thank you to Yvette and Katie for putting this together :)

Marketing & Media

Day 5 at the Woolworths Agricultural Business Scholarship

Today's theme was around Marketing & Media. Great topic as alot of this week's discussions with the other Ag Scholars have centred around the concept that we need to get out and help tell the story of Australian agriculture.

I think today's society with platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blogs, the speed of technology and accessibility of information, provides a huge advantage to assist in helping to tell the story of agriculture. You don't need a degree in journalism or work as a news anchor - the social media tools available today mean that the everyday person (yes - you and I) that works within agriculture as part of their everyday, has the opportunity to share their story.

So how can a normal everyday person like me, make a difference?

The following clip hopefully will give you an idea on the power of social media in today's society.



 

 

It is all about getting involved in the conversation. Today there are alot of people that do not have that direct connection with agriculture so they lack understanding on who and what happens to produce that food for their table.

By getting more involved in social media and participating in the conversation, you are providing the broader community with a direct link to agriculture - they can talk to someone that actually works in the industry everyday and understand how Australian farmers get such high quality produce to the table with all that mother nature can throw at us. Year in, year out.

 

There are several ways to get involved and one platform we discussed today was Twitter. After a crash course in @handles and #hashtags (I did not come up with these terms!) I think we started to get the idea.

 

On today's agenda for the Woolies #agscholars is marketing & media. First up is the National Farmers Federation #NFF
— Jasmine Nixon (@Jasminejnixon) August 30, 2012

 

The great part about this platform is that it is short and to-the-point and enables you to keep instantly up-to-date on breaking news and what issues and discussions are taking place within both the agricultural industry and the broader community. It also makes influential people such as politicians more accessible, in that you can begin some interaction and they can become more aware of the real issues within our rural communities.

 

So now I am stepping up to the challenge and actively participating in the conversation - please feel free to follow me on Twitter - look for me: @Jasminejnixon

 

(Also, for all you keen Twitter enthusiasts #hashtag #agscholars to follow what the 2012 Woolworths Agricultural Business Scholars have to say as they continue their busy program.)

 



Further in the field

Day three of the Woolworths Agricultural Business Scholarship continued....

Woolies Ag Scholars check out about the whole-tree chambers at HIE for elevated CO2 experiments to explore the trade-off between water use and carbon gain under a range of environmental conditions.

The Woolies Ag Scholars toured the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment at the University of Western Sydney.

We were shown the forefront of Australian research into measuring the potential impacts of climate change on Australian ecosystems.

Rainout shelters at HIE - used for large tree experiments (once the trees grow bigger!) to simulate changes in rainfall and intensity and examine the effects.

Although there is alot of study to still be completed, we did learn that based on current information, if atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were to continue to increase, it would actually enable plants to effectively become more efficient:

• As they would be higher yielding,
• Require less nitrogen for the same amount of production, and
• Have improvements in water use efficiency of up to 10%.

This raises some interesting questions and has some interesting implications for agricultural production.

EucFACE at HIE - Free air CO2 enrichment field experiment in existing native woodland ecosystems to explore the response to rising CO2 under natural conditions. 6 circular arrays 23m tall by 25 side have been built within the current vegetation. The series of pipes will introduce extra CO2 to increase levels to simulate the potential effects of climate change.

In the Field

Day three of the Woolworths Agricultural Business Scholarship

 

Today the Woolies Ag scholars were out in the field and visited the Sydney Markets at Flemington. These markets are well known as the 2nd largest terminal market in the world. Approximately 30% of all fresh produce on Australian dinner tables has passed through the gates at Flemington.

 

Eggplants are all checked for specification (to make sure that fit the requirements to bring you, the consumer, a high quality product) at Hydro Produce at the Sydney Markets.

 

They are a hive of activity with over 800 forklifts racing back and forth ferrying everything from eggplants to onions and every other imaginable piece of produce in between.

 

The main produce market is made up of stall spaces, which the market agents buy in order to have a space to sell their produce. The main wholesale produce market's clientele is predominately professional produce buyers from supermarkets, independent greengrocers and restaurants.

 

Wholesale produce stalls within the sheds at Sydney Markets. Each doorway and overhead banner represents a different vendor and each has their produce on display out the front. (This is just part of one row - there are several!)

 

While supermarkets like Woolworths do a lot of direct contracts with suppliers, they also still have buyers within the wholesale produce market and source some of their produce here as well.

 

The main challenge discussed with us by fresh produce wholesalers was getting kids to eat more fruit and vegetables. The Sydney Markets group has put together a "Fresh for Kids" program aimed at school-age kids to encourage them to have a more active, healthier lifestyle through exercise and eating more fresh fruit and vegetables. This program is being used within schools and also has information and support tools available for parents to help encourage education and consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables to keep them healthy.

 

Australian consumers are extremely lucky that we have such high quality fresh fruit and vegetables available and that these are proudly produced to the highest standards by our Australian growers.



Sneak preview

Wondering what the Woolworths Agricultural Business Scholarship is all about?

Here is a video on some of the participants at last years program.

Hopefully this gives you an insight into what the scholarship program is all about and some of the young people that these programs are identifying as the future of our agricultural industries.

This year's participants come from far and wide across Australia - from Western Australia, Northern Territory to central and Southern Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, King Island and New Zealand.

And what is more exciting is the range of industries they represent. As part of our group this year we have beef producers and processors, tomato growers, garlic and grape agronomists, potato growers and dairy farmers, vegetable growers, grain traders, stock-feed producers, sheep farmers and assessors, feedlot managers, communication students, crop farmers, extension officers and animal health technical specialists. Such a broad range of fields but ALL involved in careers with agriculture. Should be a fantastic 12 days with some great discussions to be had!

Welcome to Australia's Fresh Food People

Day One of the Woolworths Agricultural Business Scholarship

This was the banner that greeted us today as we entered the Woolworths Limited Head Office and was also the message that Director of Supermarkets Tjeerd Jegen shared with us as he talked about the new strategy and direction Woolworths is taking with their supermarket business.

As one of the largest supermarkets in Australia, it was interesting that the idea behind their re-branding has been to go back to the simple messages of what they do as a business and highlighting the people that do this - yes that's right, highlighting the farmers that produce Australia's fresh produce.

This introduction was the tip of the iceberg for what was an incredible start to the Woolworths Scholarship program. We have already had the opportunity to listen to highly regarded industry speakers which gave us both a perspective on the value of our agricultural industries and also challenged us with what is the strategic long-term plan for Australian agriculture, as well as rub shoulders with some of the senior management team within the Woolworths Fresh Food division and learn about the day-to-day roles they play and challenges they face in making sure they get fresh produce from the farm-gate to the consumer.

Did you know:

• The gross value of agriculture, fisheries and forestries in 2009-10 was $45 billion. 

• Of this $45 billion, 69% of that is exported. Australian farmers are well and truly helping to feed the world.

Woolworths Agricultural Business Scholarship

It has been a busy few weeks as I have been busy travelling to various Showgirl competitions and Show Balls across NSW - I have had a great time and met some very interesting people but I will share more of that with you later in a separate post.

Today's post is from Sydney as tomorrow I will be joining 30 other young agricultural enthusiasts on the Woolworths Agricultural Business Scholarship.

Woolworths together with other industry sponsors have put together an intensive 12 day course for young people which has a focus on leadership and business skills which have an application in the agricultural industry.

We will be covering topics such as leadership, strategic and financial management, marketing, logistics and professional development as well as site tours of one of their major distribution centres.

This scholarship is a good example of how a large company is providing opportunities at a grass roots level for young people to explore the opportunities that a career within agriculture can provide.

I will bring you more as the week progresses so continue to watch this space!