Aussie farmer records reassuring message about food security

A NSW farmer has got creative, recording a #itstartswithag video message from the cab of his tractor with a Vegemite sandwich and can of beer in hand. Here’s why he is encouraging other farmers to spread a positive message too and “regain some social license”.

WORRIED about food security? There’s no need.

That’s the message from farmers right across the country, joining in The Weekly Times’ #itstartswithag campaign – telling the world that despite supermarket shelves being bare, food is coming and it starts with agriculture.

But one NSW farmer has stepped it up a level, recording a viral video message while working from the cab of his tractor, with props and all.

Sam Heagney, of South Bunarba Agriculture at Mungindi, points to the paddocks around him, explaining one paddock grows enough wheat to make 2.25 million loaves of bread or 22 million Vegemite sandwiches, while another grows enough chickpeas to fill 2.5 million cans on the store shelf, and a paddock of barley will make 23.5 million cans of beer.

“That’s almost one tinnie per Australian just off that paddock and if we get enough rain and have a good season, we can almost double that yield and every Aussie gets two tinnies,” he said.

“How good is that?”

The original video has been viewed by more than 75,000 people on Twitter alone, and has been shared hundreds of times.

“The appeal of the video shows how much Australians really do appreciate their farmers and want to hear about what we do,” Mr Heagney told The Weekly Times.

“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and that the message really did allay concerns some people had about food security.”

Mr Heagney said he wanted to spread the word that panic buying food was not necessary and because our farmers are great at what they do, Australians don’t have to worry about food security. He encouraged others to do the same.

“I really recommend farmers do more to promote the excellent work we do, both during this health crisis and all of the time,” he said.

“Agriculture has suffered from a decline in social license which is impacting our ability to operate our businesses as we need to.

“It is up to all farmers to help share the really positive things we do as an industry to regain some of that social license.”

South Bunarba Agriculture is a fourth generation family farm which grows irrigated and dryland wheat, barley, chickpeas, sorghum and cotton, as well as grazing cattle.

See other farmers’ photos and videos here, and help us share the message by posting yours to social media with #itstartswithag.

You can send in your photos and videos to [e-mail]