Young people will live longest with the decisions being made about Australian agriculture today. Robbie Sefton argues that giving the next generation a genuine seat at the table is not only fair, but essential to the industry’s future.
18 August 2026
Insight from: Robbie Sefton
New president of NSW Farmers, Rebecca Reardon, has outlined her vision for the association under her leadership and as a farmer, industry advocate and longtime NSW Farmers member, it was refreshing to hear and certainly reflects what should be the priorities for Australian agriculture as a whole.
Ms Reardon emphasised the need to look to the “next generation” and their ideas for changing up advocacy strategies and the way the association communicates with its members and communities. “At the end of the day, they are the ones that will be inheriting the business of farming, and we need to give them more opportunities,” she said.
I couldn’t agree more and yet I think this awareness around securing the future of our industry can be lacking. In my submission to the 2026 Murray–Darling Basin Plan Review, I included many observations around the importance of not only recognising young people in any future planning process, but actively consulting andworking with them. I noted the 2026 Review Discussion Paper contained almost no mention of young people.
In my submission I stressed that including young people in these processes “is not tokenism - it is a recognition that governance systems which exclude the people who will live longest with the consequences of decisions are governance systems that will eventually fail”. It also makes perfect sense to bring our young farmers and other industry professionals to the table so we can tap their knowledge and experience of this brave new ‘digital-first’ world we now find ourselves in.
Ms Reardon highlighted the importance of telling the association’s stories more effectively on social media, recognition that adapting communication strategies to take advantage of evolving digital trends is today fundamental to success in cutting through the noise and gaining the attention of target audiences.
The ‘Digital news report: Australia 2026’, released earlier this year by the University of Canberra’s News and Media Research Centre, notes Australians now access news primarily through digital platforms and television, and more strikingly, younger people are leading the charge towards news from social media and influencers on platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
Perhaps surprisingly though, the report found younger audiences were engaging with news in growing numbers and young Australians under 25 actually used more news sources than older generations – it’s just the places they’re finding their news looks different to where their parents and certainly grandparents looked. For organisations wanting to communicate their messages and priorities, and remain relevant, it’s clear traditional communication channels are no longer enough.
Beyond the likes of social media though, digital literacy - the knowledge and skills needed to work with data and information - is critical for the next generation of farmers and agribusiness operators. Those of us who haven’t grown up as ‘digital natives’ would do well to listen and learn from our younger counterparts when it comes to skills around using data and emerging technologies to enhance agricultural efficiency, sustainability and productivity, and the ways we communicate with each other, and the wider community.
We must also listen to what they need into the future to maintain our thriving industry, take advantage of the opportunities and counter the challenges of a rapidly-evolving global landscape. We talk a lot in agriculture about resources – access to them, lack of them, how to use them more effectively – yet one of our greatest resources, our youth, is all too often overlooked and that’s a missed opportunity.
