Cotton Australia was a proud sponsor of a national agricultural forum held on the Gold Coast on Friday.

The forum, run by Queensland Ag Shows’ Next Gen committee, was held in conjunction with the Agricultural Shows of Australia Inaugural Conference.

Next Gen is the youth steering group for Queensland Ag Shows, and its goals include developing educational activities to shine a light on the innovative and sustainable practices of Australian farmers.

The forum brought together Next Gen’s members from across Australia to discuss challenges and look for opportunities faced by young people involved in Australian and New Zealand agricultural shows - both large, city-based shows and the hundreds of small country shows held each year.

Cotton Australia’s Education Coordinator, Jenny Hughes, presented on the deficiency of understanding about the origin of food and fibre, and how this can lead to a lack of confidence among the general public and teachers to engage in the latest innovative and sustainable practices in agriculture, and specifically to plant fibres like cotton.