We arrived in Canberra last night for the second leg of our Contemporary Scholar’s Conference.  It has been a whirlwind few days in Australia so far and we are only have way through. There are approximately 65 Scholars in New South Wales sharing experiences, swapping stories and getting to know each other.  

The discussion and conversations that have emerged from the sessions we have attended and participated in have could have significant impact on how agriculture is perceived in the future.  Much of the discussion has been around attracting new people to agriculture and keeping the good people that are already involved.  One solution that keeps bubbling to the surface is how we need to rebrand the industry and remove the old stigma.  People are attracted to people who look like them and act like them, so why wouldn’t we as an industry showcase our younger people doing great things?  Why can’t we illustrate how technological advanced the industry is?  

Not farmers  - food producers

We are food producers, whether we are Canadian, Australian or European or anywhere else in the world.  Our profession by nature demands respect from all consumers as as a collective we need to work together to ensure we keep it.   

Above is what resulted when I tried to blog this past week at the CSC, the start of three separate entries which have hardly even been flushed out let alone finished.  .  I currently sit in the airport in Canberra awaiting my flight home this morning and expect that blogging in an airport departure lounge will become a regular occurrence over the next few years.  The airport departure gates have become a place for me to reflect on my travel as I prepare to return back to my “normal” life.  Today, in this lounge there is so much to think about and digest from the past week.  Conversations began yesterday around the idea that we likely won’t comprehend exactly how much we have learnt at CSC 2014 until far into the future.  Hopefully I can read the pages and pages of notes that I took to aid in the process of retaining the ocean of information presented and more importantly discussed.  

We have danced and sang; laughed and cried; discussed and contemplated.  All and all, it has been an incredible experience.  More information to follow over the next few days with photos.