A word from the Chair
As you may have read in our last edition of the FFN Top 5, the end of 2024 marked a changing of the guard at FFN, with the retirement of Caitlin McConnel as Chair and Director. I’d like to firstly thank Caitlin for her leadership through a period of renewal for the organisation; she oversaw numerous projects that required a tremendous amount of vision and dedication and leave FFN in much better stead than when she first started as a Director.
While she has left big boots to fill, I am honoured to have been elected as Chair for the 2025 year. I am in great company, working with some of the brightest, most passionate and driven young people I have had the pleasure of meeting in the industry. I look forward to the year ahead and working with my fellow Directors, the Young Beef Producer Forum Committee and our Executive Officer, Sally Turner, to continue to bring valuable opportunities and events to our members and partners.
Since the Future Farmers Network was established, the trend has excitingly shifted from agriculture being viewed as a dead end for anyone with serious career ambitions to an industry brimming with exciting opportunities in every direction. It’s not uncommon now to meet people working in agriculture with no family ties to farming or who didn’t grow up on a farm themselves. For those who do come from agriculture, the narrative is no longer ‘whatever you do, don’t come home’. Professionals who previously didn’t associate as agricultural specialists now wear that label with pride. And with a growing cohort of young people from diverse backgrounds comes a broader range of experiences that can be leveraged to our industry’s benefit.
This year we took the opportunity to review, alongside our strategy, our vision and mission, to ensure they still reflect accurately where we strive to be. I am excited to announce a refreshed Vision and Mission for the FFN; both still very much aligned with our core purpose, just a little more ambitious and reflective of where the organisation is positioned in 2025.
VISION: To be the leader in connecting, educating and empowering young people in Australian agriculture.
MISSION: To collaborate with industry partners to deliver impactful upskilling opportunities and events that support young people in Australian agriculture.
We sincerely thank our partners and members for their support to date and look forward to another successful year of working together to the betterment of young people across Australian agriculture. As always, if you are a young person in Australian agriculture with ideas as to how we can support you better, or another organisation keen to partner and collaborate, please get in touch.
– Lauren Roellgen, FFN Chair