Growing up in Nabiac as a teenager, NSW Young Farmers Council chair Joshua Gilbert did not take much of an interest in agricultural matters. It was not until the indigenous 23-year-old was later working in Sydney that he began thinking of an agricultural future.
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"I was thinking how nice it would be to own a small hobby farm, and have children I could give the same opportunities I had, with potty calves and dairy and beef cattle. Thinking about what the future might hold, I started to take an active interest," he said.
The accountant nearing the end of his law degree now lives in Wagga Wagga, where he is repacking his bag to attend Sydney's Royal Easter Show as an ambassador for Youth in Agriculture Day. It is only a quick stop-off, as he has just returned from the lofty corridors of Canberra's Parliament House, where he spent two days as part of a delegation of nine farmers from across the country, sharing their first-hand experiences with key members of Parliament on how climate change is affecting their ability to produce food. As an Earth Hour initiative organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature whose theme this year revolves around food, agriculture, and climate change, the delegation included farmers of cattle, sheep, wheat, barley, canola, fruit, and dairy products, from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.
"It was great having such a diverse range of backgrounds and commodities to share not just with the parliamentarians, but with each other," said Josh.
Josh grew up around wheat and sheep near Boorowa before moving to his grandfather's Brafords stud in Nabiac over 12 years ago with his family.
"We're three generations on that farm, and my grandfather has been there for around 50 years. My other grandparents had a beef cattle farm at Krambach, which has been in the family for even longer," he said.
Josh cited the Brafords as one of the changes the farm has made to cope with the changing weather pattern. He said that the breed is traditionally from Queensland, and they made the strategic decision to become the most southern based breeders due to their hardiness and tolerance to the increased numbers of buffalo flies and ticks in the region.
"The weather has altered alot, particularly with really variable rainfall," said Josh.
"It makes it hard to plan as we use a cyclical model around our paddocks to rotate the cattle, and it makes it hard to time it properly. We're also destocking in the lead up to these really dry winters, and we try to plan for feed supplements."
Delegation meetings took place with the shadow minister for agriculture Joel Fitzgibbon, independent Nick Xenophon, Greens' Christine Milne, Julie Bishop's chief of staff, member for Paterson Bob Baldwin, and various other ministers and representatives. They also delivered 226 copies of Earth Hour's Planet to Plate cookbook - one to each MP and Senator - packed with climate stories from 50 Aussie farmers and information from scientists about how climate change is affecting farming and rural communities.
"Climate change is not something that's talked about alot in agriculture. We really wanted to look at how to move industries forward in these discussions," said Joel.
"I think we made people more aware."
Last week's Royal Easter Show (RAS) saw Josh championing the rural sector to urban families, showcasing young farmers to a city audience and educating young kids about where their food comes from. Having received last year's RAS rural achiever award for his motivation and enthusiasm for the industry, he said his education has given him a unique way of looking at agriculture.
"It's about combining all of the knowledge I've acquired, from my grandparents, parents, and degrees, and putting it towards the future," he said.