As someone who has worked in the farming ecosystem for the bulk of my 30-year-career I am used to scanning the industry horizon for issues.

In the media, this observation and insight created opportunities for stories – knowing what was happening as an ABC rural reporter was vital, caring about the industry and its people, innate.

Later, in corporate communications and leadership roles for the dairy and banana industry – scanning that same horizon for issues came from a different perspective … damage control, issues management, advocacy, education and protection.

In my new role as executive officer for Partners in Ag, an organisation whose remit is to nourish the farmers that run our primary production engine rooms, I am again scanning that horizon. Like a farmer looking for rain … But this time, I’m looking at a crowded space of education and support sector businesses competing to do the same job, in an industry that has issues exploding in rapid fire across all sectors and geographies, simultaneously.

To say the farm sector in 2026 is ‘issues rich’ is an understatement.

There has never been a greater challenge to the farm sector’s social license to operate. Translation – it has never been harder to be a farmer.

And I wonder, do the children of farmers still say ‘when I grow up I want to be a farmer,’ as they watch their parents stretch to survive another day, another issue, another challenge, another financial or emotional crisis?

Do the children of our farmers still fantasise about life on the land when their parents have to rush from the dinner table to make it to the next zoom call or advocacy group that helps them navigate and fight back against the chasm that is now the country-city divide?

When I grew up just outside Colac on the edge of the urban sprawl that is now filled with a concentration of new housing estates, I was proud to be the daughter of farmers.  

I secretly resented the fact the older kids in the family grew up on the family farm, which was sold by the time I could have enjoyed it.

When I became a journalist, the politicians I interviewed were usually farmers. They understood the land and advocated for its people and processes.

It seems now though, the chasm between city and country – yes, I’m going to repeat that until it sinks in – is represented by a government in which those who hold the power have little understanding and certainly no empathy for the farm sector.

And while it is important for a person in my role to remain politically ‘Switzerland’ – it is impossible to ignore the impact the lack of empathy and understanding has through the policies that are then inflicted on regional industries and communities.

It is impossible to not be disturbed by the shredding of community that those policies and projects have – as they pit neighbour against neighbour in our rich farm regions across the country.

When I grew up, community was the heart of my existence.  

If not the football club, then it was the church community, the many extended family gatherings in a town that knew who I was and how I was connected.

What a blissful way to grow up. But that was then.

Knowing how to support and add value, to create programs that fill the gaps, bolster a sector that is battling on every front, is now my focus at Partners in Ag.

Because if our children aren’t saying ‘when I grow up I want to be a farmer,’ and who would blame them if they’re not – then the issues we are facing now will feel like the dress rehearsal for the ones we will face in short decades across the country.

• Paula Doran is the new executive officer at Partners in Ag. She is a former journalist and regional business woman who is passionate about supporting primary producers and their communities. People can contact her via email eo@partnersinag.org.au.

The entire June 24, 2026 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!

The entire June 24, 2026 edition of AgLife is available online. READ IT HERE!