Two young farmers running for a place on the local council want to see more small-scale farming in the area

In an area where property prices are out of control, “landless” farmers face a whole lot of challenges, but these council candidates hope more food can be produced on the Byron Shire’s fertile lands.

Young farmers Venetia Scott and Evan Anderson, who are both Byron Shire Council candidates on the Mark Swivel Team ticket.

A pair of young farmers running for council in the Byron Shire are keen to see more food produced on local land.

Evan Anderson and Venetia Scott of Hungry Earth Agroecology manage four acres of market garden between them across two separate Myocum sites.

They are both running on the Mark Swivel Team ticket in the September 4, 2021 council election.

While 90 per cent of the Byron Shire’s land is zoned for agricultural use, the pair are keen to look into how the effective use of that space can be increased.

“Our community has the ethos and our land holds the fertility for us to lead the way,” Mr Anderson said.

“While there is a lot of talk about regenerative agriculture, what we need is more constructive conversations around policy and systems to focus our local economy around primary production and the people doing it.”

Evan Anderson, a Byron Shire Council candidate running on the Mark Swivel Team ticket in the September 4, 2021 election. Picture: Contributed

Ms Scott is a former lawyer who moved to the region to learn about food production.

“We’ve got all this land and amazing soils and we’re in one of the highest rainfall catchments in the country but I still found entering the agricultural sector challenging,” she said.

“The challenges I’ve faced included getting secure land tenure, tapping into a skilled workforce, making a liveable income and getting access to markets to sell your produce.

“I left the law and moved here because I felt called to be part of the solution and to contribute towards the practical work that we need to do to create a viable, sustainable food system for our community.

“But as a landless farmer it’s tough putting so much effort into regenerating the land while not having any security over the plot that I’m working. There’s no way we can afford to buy land but we need security of tenure.”

Venetia Scott, a Byron Shire Council candidate running on the Mark Swivel Team ticket in the September 4, 2021 election. Picture: Contributed

Ms Scott said she would be keen to see local landowners “incentivised to make their land available for people who are willing to farm”.

“We’re really falling short of the potential of this region,” she said.

“We could be much more enterprising.

“We need new models of distribution so we can be growing more food here and cutting down on food miles but also finding new ways of distributing it beyond the Northern Rivers. We should be considering ourselves part of the food bowl in Brisbane. In the longer term we could develop the shire as an education hub for small-scale farming in Australia.”

The two candidates will host a forum for farmers, landowners and other interested parties to discuss the issue at the Middle Pub in Mullumbimby from 6pm on Wednesday, July 14.