THE Victorian Government has been challenged to give more help to young farmers buying their first farm.
And a key step could be reforming the state-owned Rural Finance Corporation, according to outgoing Victorian Farmers Federation president Andrew Broad.
In his final address to the VFF conference in Bendigo last week, Mr Broad said the RFC could be used more strategically to help the younger generation.
"Our challenge has been trying to get government to see getting young people into agriculture is not simply a cost on budget, but is actually an investment in productivity," he said. "I've been a thorn in the side of this State Government over attracting young people into agriculture."
Mr Broad said the biggest productivity gains were made by the younger generation.
And he said Australia risked losing generations of farming know-how if the ageing farm workforce issue was not addressed.
Mr Broad said the VFF had maintained its apolitical status during his tenure.
"That has come at a personal cost to people who I believe could have gone on to greater things," he said. "And we need to continue doing that to best represent farmers."
Mr Broad also called on country people to look to themselves, not just to parliamentarians, to expand rural areas.
"We look to parliamentarians too much. They are just people, they are doing their best; but we also have to look to ourselves and grow our communities," he said.
Mr Broad called for governments to have more vision and commit to infrastructure projects as the state's infrastructure was crumbling.
The processing sector also needed more support and was vital for a healthy farming sector, he said.
