ON Friday November 17 the nation celebrated Ag Day Au, a day where the agriculture industry and the hundreds of thousands of people employed in it are fittingly acknowledged.
"Victoria, and in particular my Eastern Victoria electorate is home to world class food and fibre producers," said Melina Bath MP, the Nationals Member for Eastern Victoria Region.
"Statistically speaking Victoria does much of the heavy lifting when it comes to agriculture in Australia.
"Our farmers produce 64 per cent of the nation’s milk, 47 per cent of the nation’s lamb, 70 per cent of the nation’s table and dried grapes, 35 per cent of nations fruit and nuts, 22 per cent of the nation’s vegetable, 21 per cent of the nation’s beef and 17 per cent of the nation’s grain.
"Agriculture also contributes massively to our export markets with total food and fibre exports contributing a whopping $17.9 billion to the economy.
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"All this produce originates from the 21,600 registered farm businesses across in regional and peri urban Victoria – they are impressive statistics."
Growing up on a dairy farm is something that Ms Bath will always cherish, the experience providing her with an understanding of the challenges and "tractor-loads" of hard work required to produce quality food from paddock to plate.
"For those of us who live in the regions, we understand the importance production, processing, manufacturing, transport, marketing and all the workers that underpin of the supply chain," said Ms Bath.
"A sincere thank you to all our fabulous farmers and their families for your role in feeding and clothing us."
