“Climate” is not a dirty word
There's sometimes a feeling in agriculture, that “climate” and “climate action” is a dirty word. Despite ‘the weather’ being every farmer’s favourite topic, the word “climate” can be seen as divisive. And you'd certainly better not talk about “climate action!”
However, this episode’s guest is not afraid of “climate action”… and also wants the best for farmers. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
Natalie Collard is the CEO of Farmers for Climate Action. She's been in the job for a couple of years now, but the group itself started 10 years ago as a growing voice for farmers who wanted to be able to talk about the realities of climate change, while also advocating for farmers.
FCA has steadily grown and is now holding its first National Summit in Canberra, called Farming Forever, on September 1- 3.
In this episode, Natalie talks about why FCA began and how farmers can be better recognized and incentivized for the simple practice changes (that many of us have already made). We also talk about the political mix we're facing in the Federal Parliament, after a resounding Labor win.
We also touch on ‘the climate guilts’ - that feeling some of us have that we could be doing more to be cleaner and greener. But why is it okay to just take it one step at a time!
GIVEAWAY! Listen to the episode to get the promo code, then head to the Ducks on the Pond website. (THIS GIVEAWAY RUNS FROM 19/6/2025 - 14/7/2025)
Follow Ducks on the Pond on Instagram. This is a Rural Podcasting Co. production. Love this podcast? You might also like: Two Smart Blondes and Town Criers.
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Natalie Collard: 0:04
Sometimes these things pollies get the idea that farmers are pistols drawn at 10 paces at dusk sort of thing, and we're certainly not like that. Every farmer I've met is up for the conversation.
Kirsten Diprose: 0:18
Hey, it's Kirsten here. Welcome to Ducks on the Pond brought to you by the Rural Podcasting Co. Welcome to Ducks on the Pond brought to you by the Rural Podcasting Co. Our season sponsor is Buy CC Fine Jewellery, who have a 15% discount for all Ducks on the Pond listeners. And guess what? We have a special giveaway coming up where you could win a piece of jewellery. It's a gold ring, yellow or white, your choice. Take a look at the By CC website. It's called the Piper Ring and it's their best seller. Now keep listening to this episode for details on how to enter.
Kirsten Diprose: 0:56
So there's sometimes a feeling in ag that climate and climate action is a dirty word, sometimes even that you're not allowed to speak about climate change, and I think this is so weird because weather is every farmer's favourite topic, right? But the word climate can be seen as divisive. I don't know if you've noticed publicly. You can say the changing climate or climate variability, and yet not climate change, and you'd certainly better not talk about climate action. But our next guest is not afraid of climate action and also wants the best for farmers, because you know the two aren't mutually exclusive.
Kirsten Diprose: 1:39
Natalie Collard is the CEO of Farmers for Climate Action. She's been in the job for a couple of years now, but the group itself started 10 years ago as a growing voice for farmers who wanted to be able to talk about agriculture and advocate for farmers, while also acknowledging how climate change is changing the land we live on and what we do, and what we're going to have to do in the future. We live on and what we do, and what we're going to have to do in the future. The group has steadily grown and is now holding its first national summit in Canberra on September 1 to 3, bringing farmers straight to the decision makers. Now, full disclosure. I'm the emcee for that event and very proud to be so too.
Kirsten Diprose: 2:21
I've long been supportive of Farmers for Climate Action in a small way, you know, reading their newsletters, keeping up with what they're doing, and that's because I really like the support that they offer farmers who are wanting to try different things, but also because of the way, by showing how farmers are forward-thinking caretakers of the land, and just because there's a relatively small vocal group who may want to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to climate change. That's not the average farmer. The average farmer is just busy getting on with farming, doing a great job and constantly improving their business, and that means looking at how the climate is changing, or climate change, and doing something about it. So in this episode I chat to Natalie about how farmers can be better recognised and incentivised for the simple practice changes that many of us have already made that effectively lower emissions. We also talk about the political mix that we're facing in federal parliament currently after a resounding Labor win, and also we touch on what I like to call climate guilt.
Kirsten Diprose: 3:32
I know I feel it, and that's in farming and it's where we can often feel like we could be doing more to be cleaner and greener. But why? It's okay to just take it one step at a time. No one's perfect, right. So let's jump right into the interview where I asked Natalie Collard what her connection to rural Australia is.
Natalie Collard: 3:59
So the best way to put it is I'm a fan. I'm their biggest fan. I was in a public service career that I loved. I couldn't believe I got paid. To put it is I'm a fan, I'm their biggest fan. I was in a public service career that I loved. I couldn't believe I got paid to do it, because I was traveling the world, attending the UN and other countries, representing defense and foreign affairs and trade and on matters that really mattered to me defense issues and biological weapons and things peacekeeping around the world and it felt like I was making a difference.
Natalie Collard: 4:28
But I was living in Canberra and everyone kept saying this drought is the worst drought we've ever had. There's not that many farmers in Canberra, I've got to say. But suddenly we were impacted by the drought and you couldn't have a shower longer than two minutes. It was illegal to water your garden on the wrong day, depending on your house number, and all I kept hearing was as this encroached and changed everything that being Australian meant to me, like summer kids playing under the sprinkler on the front yard and all those sort of things like using water so differently, and everyone kept saying farmers have got it worse and I thought, oh my gosh, I need to learn more about this. What can I do to help? So I just went to the National Farmers Federation, which I Googled, I had not heard of before, knocked on the door and said what can I do to help, thinking fundraising or pro bono work or something. And they just threw a job ad at me. So I applied.
Natalie Collard: 5:28
Somehow I got the job and suddenly I manage a rural affairs for the National Farmers Federation and drought is in my portfolio. So I had a lot to learn and I haven't regretted it once. I've loved every minute. Farmers are so generous with their knowledge, they genuinely care, and I found that we share so many values. We're really collective, really focused on integrity. How you do something matters just as much as why you're doing it or the end point. It's not okay to cut corners, and yeah. So I feel everything that I've learned from that day on has kept me hooked on ag. So biggest fan.
Kirsten Diprose: 6:08
Oh, I like that description. That's great. It's interesting, isn't it, how, when something awful is happening, like a drought or really bad floods or natural disasters, that then everyone suddenly realizes that, oh yeah, food just doesn't appear in the supermarkets out of nowhere, that there is a whole process and it can be disrupted by the weather. Do you remember life before, when you didn't know much about farming and agriculture? And how does that influence how you work now?
Natalie Collard: 6:44
I'm just so conscious all the time what a privilege it is when you don't have to think about your food and where it's coming from and not all Australians have that today and I went from being really conscious of how blasé and ignorance is bliss to being a bit like who the hell are these people and where have we been hiding them all this time? Because they're incredible and they're doing workplace relations and IR on their farm and they're doing science and they're often great communicators. And you just feel that point where you get so humbled. You're like should I even turn up? This is embarrassing for me. Even turn up, this is embarrassing for me, but it is really incredible. And what I have realized is farmers are busy. They are so busy and so it's really a privilege for me and people like me who are attracted to ag to feel welcomed, because often ag people and they don't mean it, but they can blame the general community for not knowing what you don't know, and Donald Rumsfeld like him or loathe him. He had a great line right about known unknowns, unknown unknowns and known knowns and I think we can't blame people.
Natalie Collard: 7:58
87% of the Aussie community grows up now in the city. They don't have a natural connection to ag often. So how do we connect them in? How do we tell our story? How do we do that? And often the value chain's brilliant at it. Some of these ads are directly connecting food from the source I'm talking about your duopoly and others and taking you on farm and I think that's brilliant. I love seeing ads like that and farmer' faces and in the general community. So we stop and think about the people behind our food.
Kirsten Diprose: 8:30
Yeah, oh, it's an ongoing pet peeve of mine is farmers not understanding that people don't grow up on farms and therefore they don't know how to move stock. My husband once said to me you just have no stock sense and I was like you've got no new sense, but I don't expect you to. It probably comes from being humble, in that they don't see their skills sometimes because it is a highly technical skill set and just because you've grown up with it, you don't see it for what it is.
Natalie Collard: 9:02
It's funny grown up with it, you don't see it for what it is. It's funny. And that movie, that really powerful movie, Just a Farmer, is called Just a Farmer because that's what they would say to me when I'm like, oh my God, you're amazing. How do you know all these things? What did you study? How do you learn all this? And they're like, oh, I'm just a farmer. And of course they didn't even say it like that. They just looked at me perplexed because it's all normal to them and it's intuitive and it's not for me. So it's easy to respect what you're not because you see it so powerfully.
Kirsten Diprose: 9:34
And city people can also do that back and say, oh yeah, they're just farmers or she's just a farmer, and not respect what all of that entails.
Natalie Collard: 9:45
And not know right. So part of it is every time we get together in a room of farmers and we're having a brainstorm about how to solve the next big problem, I have got to the point where I'm I don't know what you'd call it, but it's like bingo, right when I'm just waiting for the person that says we've got to start telling our story. And it's always got just in front of it as if it's an easy thing and just get on social media or just do that. And as a communications professional, you would know far better than I. There's no just about it. It's actually a really important strategic communication challenge and skill set and it is needed. But it's really interesting to me about where money in ag goes, and we're a member of the National Farmers Federation and we're also a member at Farmers for Climate Action of Climate Action Now Network Australia. So we work with the environmental sector orgs and also farmer sector orgs and it's really interesting and fun straddling those two communities. But one thing I've noticed is a lot of the environmental groups really focus on communications and invest dollars, fundraise against it and things like that and prioritise it and, contrary to what we often hear, they're not swimming in money or anything usually. But it's interesting for agriculture, maybe because we're coming from a really business mindset. It almost feels like strategic comms doesn't have a business value that we want to invest against in the same way, and I wonder, if we put some dollars towards that and just about telling our story and raising awareness and creating shared value, whether we'd actually be more effective when it came to the pointy end of our policy work.
Natalie Collard: 11:42
One of the things you've asked me before is ag and politics and what does it look like and all of that. And you really made me think because I was looking up stats and after the last election, of course, we've seen a really comprehensive message from the electorate and in the 1960s there was over 300,000 farmers so we could actually shift votes and electorates. We had a much lower population as a country and now we've got a rising population. The average electorate now has 122,000 people per electorate and in ag we've got in total 85,000 farms. So unless we all want to move to the one electorate, which kind of means micro farms, which isn't what we're into, we need to find the shared value and communicate as part of our effectiveness, as part of our social capital, of actually getting our operating metrics that we're looking for, the policy settings we're looking for from government up. It's not just a two-way conversation between our leaders and colleagues anymore. It's actually we've got to bring the community along with us and get some alliances going. So an interesting challenge.
Kirsten Diprose: 13:09
Yeah, we have the NFF and state-based groups and lots of other industry groups as well. What's different about Farmers for Climate Action?
Natalie Collard: 13:20
We're the new kid on the block, and I say that from an era that actually listened to music from a band called New Kids on the Block, which is very embarrassing for me, but we're celebrating our 10-year anniversary this year, which is really mind-blowing for the 30 farmers that were part of the original gang that thought, oh, why not? Why not just put something together and see where it goes? And the truth is they felt that the traditional farming groups that often they're still members of weren't representing their views on climate. This was a time when you mentioned climate and you still clear the room. It was very divisive and it still can be. Truly, but really, what we're trying to do is bring a really positive, truly, but really what we're trying to do is bring a really positive, optimistic, constructive voice that says farmers are on the front lines of climate change.
Natalie Collard: 14:12
We did a survey just over 12 months ago and 98% of farmers have experienced and suffered from climate change impacts on farm. That's almost everyone. We've got farmers right now in South Australia that we are thinking about every single day because it is just not raining, and Western Victoria and other parts of Gippsland it is not raining. We've got farmers up north where they're waterlocked. If it's not actual flooding anymore, it's the remnants of flooding, and it's still raining periodically, so they're not getting the dry out that they need for the season. So it's really challenging and rocking ag to its core, which is brilliant and such an incredible way of being able to shape our own future ourselves, which a lot of sectors don't have and which we often don't understand that we have. It's not that way. It's all happening to us. Over 71% of farmers have invested in reducing emissions on their own farms, with their own money, not government handouts, nothing like that. That's happening too, and we want more incentives. But they're doing it. They're getting on with it because this is their family, their future, their jobs, their home. It's everything they care and love about the most. It's sacred to them. A lot of them are multi-generational, and this is something we've signed up to and want to continue and we've got the right, and so it's about claiming some of our power.
Natalie Collard: 15:49
So at FCA, what we find really important is to tell those stories, at the same time that we're saying what else needs doing and what other industries need to do to support us to get there faster. So we're really vocal on other sectors needing to do the heavy lifting too. We're really vocal to government, but again, a positive lens every chance we get. The best things we do are evidence-based reports. Everything we do is grounded in science and facts and we hold to that really firmly. So we're about choice for farmers. Not every solution is going to be the right thing, so they're really well placed to reduce emissions quickly. We think we can actually come out of this with a better view for ag prosperity than before climate change hit us, and that's what we're holding on to and we're going to give it everything we got and we've got from 30 farmers, 8,400 plus farmers and, would you believe, over 85,000 community supporters. Because we're actually saying to the community why don't you back farmers doing the right thing?
Kirsten Diprose: 17:06
One of the things that FCA does that I love is the various courses, webinars and fellowships that help with climate smart farming or renewables, or understanding your soil pathways to understanding more and understanding how you can do something on your farm. The thing that I think can be hard for many farmers and I include myself in this is thinking that we're not climate smart enough or enough to be part of the group, as in. You think I do X, y and Z, but, to be honest, I still perhaps do this. That is not, as perhaps we still burn stubble or we use, maybe, fertilizer a bit too much. Or can I be a farmer for climate action if I'm not doing all of the things?
Natalie Collard: 17:58
If you haven't done one thing yet for climate action, come join us, be part of the fun. Honestly, we're here for the four Ps profitability, productivity, looking after our people and looking after the planet. And every farmer's doing that, I promise you. They've always been doing that to get where they are today and they're going to keep doing that. And what we're here to do is really connect them to the great resources that are out there. We often don't produce the content. We're actually connecting them. We go find the good stuff, check that it's qualified to help enough people and put it out there, and the idea is it's a smorgasbord that you can pick and choose from and you can have just a tiny taste if that's right for you, or you can eat for a week if you want to.
Natalie Collard: 18:43
There's really something about the discussion on climate change that disappoints me in that it's often about got a halo effect. You know if you're doing climate action, and it's really not about that. It's something that we're all doing. I can think now if I'm separating my recycling perfectly or not. It's those sort of things where sometimes we can feel too hard on ourselves and it's really about how do we get around and get. I love sports, so I always talk about let's find the one percenters that'll help you and your farm. Every farm's different, we know that, and no one knows their farm better than the farmer. So it's about finding the right thing and if we can help connect you to that, that's what we're here to do, and also provide a bit of fellowship along the way and a bit of fun as well.
Kirsten Diprose: 19:35
Is part of it, just being able to stick your hand up and go. You know what? I do believe that we need as a society to take climate action, and that's across everything. As you said before, agriculture is only one sector. We know the transport industry is a far bigger emitter than agriculture. Climate is still a dirty word in agriculture at large. I wish it wasn't right to me.
Natalie Collard: 20:05
It's just a reality and we have to start making plans and policies with that in mind yeah, it's really interesting because you're spot on there and I sometimes wonder about the role of ag leadership in this, because we often talk about red tape, green tape and just having this big hand up saying no. I think there was a lot of rallies held last year against a lot of things that we would argue are actually helping farmers that choose to do it, like hosting renewables or nature-based farming and incentives for biodiversity and those sort of things, and one of the things that we hold really firmly to is farmers need to have choice and they need to have options, and anything that cuts that off is not a good thing. So it's really about how do we support change and how do we lead and create that environment where farmers feel supported. I would argue that a lot of those rallies or policy settings they haven't made progress. They haven't made any change. In fact, we've just had an announcement from Minister Bowen that a transition to renewables is a full pace ahead, sort of thing, and yet we know there's been a lot of advocacy by a lot of traditional ag groups against it. But we also know from a report we produced late last year in partnership with the Clean Energy Council that we've got the numbers on this and it's going to create billions for the regional communities and farmers.
Natalie Collard: 21:42
And you don't have to host renewables if you don't want to. That doesn't mean they're perfect or there's not issues that we need to get on and sort out and get around the table. But while we're just putting our hand up and saying no, we're not around the table saying hang on, we want confirmations and better advice to reassure communities on decommissioning. What do we do when communities feel they've reached a threshold or these transmission lines are not in the right spot? How are we working with you on that? How are we making sure that farmers aren't taxed on hosting transmission lines that they've no choice but to host? They're the questions that we want to get on with and solve and talk about.
Natalie Collard: 22:20
But while we're putting our hand up, I think they might be coming rolling over the top of us and we're not actually having an effective say. That's one example, also with nature-based work. I worry because I think a lot of farmers are just getting on and doing it by the time we get around the table to get the incentives right and the credits right. Who's going to be eligible? We're actually cutting off our nose to spite our face and we're on it. We'll work on it, but I do think you've got to be at the table if you're not going to be on the menu.
Kirsten Diprose: 22:52
Stay with us. We'll be right back after this message from our sponsor.
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Kirsten Diprose: 24:07
I'm a mother and an entrepreneur and I'm delighted to sponsor Ducks on the Pond for Season 7. And we'll return to the episode in a moment, but first I wanted to let you know how to win a gold ring made to fit you from Buy Cece Fine Jewellery. So head to the Ducks on the Pond website and enter the promo code PONDS7. All in capitals, all one word pond S for season and the number seven. We'll be doing the draw and announcing the winner in episode nine, which is our final episode of the season. So good luck, and I'll return you to our episode with Natalie Collard.
Kirsten Diprose: 24:58
That's my biggest fear is that regulation will happen to us rather than in our benefit, because there are a whole lot of different policy levers that governments can pull. They will have to bear the cost of it if they pull one too hard and the electorate doesn't like it. But in the meantime, I think New Zealand is an example. Under Jacinta Ardern they were able to pass some quite radical regulations that didn't end up working for the farmers. Fortunately our system we have a Senate, so in New Zealand they basically just have a lower house, which means that a government can pass a law and there's no check from the Senate. We've always got that which balances things out, makes things take longer.
Natalie Collard: 25:48
You know who's got the balance in the Senate? Yeah, the Greens probably do. Yeah, so I'm wondering if Ag's feeling comfortable and confident about that combo? We are feeling comfortable and confident about that combo. We are because you've got to talk and listen and also ask to be heard. But that's unusual. That hasn't happened before in Australia. Right? Sorry to interrupt, kirsten.
Kirsten Diprose: 26:11
No, but you're right. We've got a Labor government and a balance of power with the Greens. There are other players in there too, and we've also got a Labor government federally that won so convincingly that they are likely to get at least two terms of power. The Libs would have to work really hard to be able to get them out at the next election because of all the seats that they hold and no matter where you sit on the political spectrum and no matter where you sit on the political spectrum.
Kirsten Diprose: 26:40
I like the fact that we have a little bit of certainty. Like for me, I'm like oh, here's some clear air to just make some policy decisions. Hopefully they're good ones. Like I said, that's still. My deep worry is that we'll get these regulations that might even have good intent but just are very burdensome on farmers and don't achieve a lot, and that will really frustrate farmers. But if you can get regulations or incentives I think incentives is a better word that can actually make a difference, are great for farmers on the four Ps, that's the sort of stuff that we want to see.
Natalie Collard: 27:22
Oh yeah, kirsten, I'm voting for you. Vote one, kirsten Differs. So I guess there's a few points there. And again, we're all going to have to adjust in the policy advocacy space to a different political environment, because we've been in an environment where policy can be made and unmade just as quickly. And now exactly what you're pointing to is there's a sense of not just it can be made, but it can be implemented and embedded in and there's that potential.
Natalie Collard: 27:52
What I feel strongly about and this is why we really focus on the evidence and the consultation with farmers and across section, so we can understand the impacts and also demand government does the policy analysis in advance but also not work to the lowest common denominator.
Natalie Collard: 28:09
So it might mean that something gets put in place and there's a treatment off on the side for a group that would be otherwise perversely impacted to be supported.
Natalie Collard: 28:19
So we don't miss the good for the perfect, because there ain't no such thing as perfect policy, I've learnt. But also, wouldn't it be wonderful if we lived in a political environment and a news cycle that wasn't about gotchas, because if something came in and we learnt, actually this has got some perverse impacts that are unintended, that could be remedied and adjusted and it wasn't called a flip-flop or something like that or a fail, but actually it was seen as a good thing, because we're here not to win elections. I hope we're here to actually make a difference, to make Australia better, and we're all part of that ecosystem. So if we're all playing our role and focused on doing the right thing for the right reasons just like the farmers that impressed me and attracted me to ag I'm still here 18 years later. Wouldn't that be great if we could all challenge ourselves to reflect that in our work, including Polly's, if we could all challenge ourselves to reflect that in our work including Polly's, you know what.
Kirsten Diprose: 29:27
And as a comms person, I would say to politicians that coming out after a policy, say didn't work. And you can say, look, it didn't work the way that we had hoped. We're now trying this or we realise now that we need to do X because Y is not working. And we've listened to you. People actually like that, the electorate like that, because it makes you human. So don't be afraid to take a different turn and gosh farmers, we're the king and queens of failure, like the amount of time we go look okay, this time we've just trialled something new and, yeah, it's fair to say that didn't work. Like we've all done massive failures and we all have a laugh about it. We can, sometimes we can get sad about it, but in farming, failing it's part of business.
Natalie Collard: 30:14
What do we call it? Fleurning Cause? That's how we learn and we build it into the system right. So you might decide to do a portion of a paddock as using regen techniques and others using conventional and actually spread your risk. Get smart, live and learn and all the rest. So I love that. I love that concept. I also note that we see pollies like that all the time. We talk to them a lot and one of the funnest things we do.
Natalie Collard: 30:41
But we often bring farmers to parliament houses and have direct meetings or events and lots of one-on-ones between our farmers, who we give lots of preparation so that they're a place to be on, message and tell their story to pollies. And we love supporting farmers to tell their story in a way that feels right for them. So they're super authentic and the pollies listen so intently they refer back to it. They'll sometimes ask to catch up afterwards. They'll connect to them to the department. We've had roundtables of 30 farmers with departmental staff just to ask questions in a safe way before going out with a policy. You know the farmers love it. It went on and on. So some of the farmers were like, hang on, I've got to get back to the farm, give me a spell. But we caught up with them afterwards and connected the departmental heads, but they actually told us they don't get to do that to ask questions in a safe way about, if we did this, what would that mean for you on your farm. Okay, you're in Queensland or you're this commodity how would that work for you? And just to create that sandpit of safety, because we want good policies. So how are we investing in making that happen and being part of the solution?
Natalie Collard: 31:56
We're also super excited because we're bringing we're close to getting 100 farmers already signed up for our summit in Canberra and we're going to Canberra because we want to connect with the pollies where they are. We think we're going to come to you from our farms. Get farmers from farms to Canberra, make it easy and deep dive on all things climate action. So what I can promise any farmer that's thinking of coming not everything we cover is going to be right for you and that's on purpose because it's going to be right for someone else.
Natalie Collard: 32:29
But there will be lots of things that are right for you and practical for you to take back onto your farm and we're going to try and cover a fair whack in two days. But we're also going to invite pollies to come and tell us and engage with us directly and can't ask more than that if we're coming to Canberra, for them to meet us and chat to us about the policies and what's happening and listen and meet farmers directly. So I'm really excited about that and I've seen that work so well before in terms of the relationships and the safety, because I don't know, sometimes these things pollies get the idea that farmers are what is it got pistols drawn at 10 paces at dusk sort of thing, and we're certainly not like that. Every farmer I've met is up for the conversation, absolutely.
Kirsten Diprose: 33:18
I think that's so important, that element of trust that we each need to have politicians and the people who work in governments, and farmers themselves. I think it's fair to say, though, we, as farmers, have gotten tired from bureaucracy approaching us and wanting you to do surveys, wanting you to give feedback on this, and then sometimes not being felt very listened to. So there's this kind of apprehension or frustration that people can approach anything government bureaucracy with, and I don't know how governments can really get over that, like it's been decades in the making that there is this element of distrust there.
Natalie Collard: 34:05
And you're never paid for your time, like it's just so rude and it's over consultation and it's almost as though we've got to this model and look, we all get it. We're all operating in the same economic climate. But often I'll write in submissions things that are a more polite way of saying just because you announced something in a media release, on a website and open a website for two weeks doesn't mean farmers have time to see it, to find it, to write submissions or care. We can't care or attend this event at this place or all this sort of stuff. And you're one of 17 going on right now that are all relevant, because when you're in ag, I mean most things don't even fall in the ag minister's portfolio. There's so many relevant ministers for one farmer. It's ridiculous. That's why we have a really different model to other ag groups, because the truth is, traditional ag groups have the same model. You volunteer on a branch and you go up to state and you put things forward and there's lots of meetings before a policy gets signed off. It takes a long time and then it goes to national and it starts then with the committees and all the rest and there's a lot of volunteerism.
Natalie Collard: 35:16
There's not a natural point for the research to kick in and influence it as well. It's often people's lived experience from one place, so it's not necessarily tested about what the impact is for elsewhere. We've got the RDC system the research and development corporations, who do an incredible job. So often they'll get besides a policy and put all that data and research around it, but not always so. At FCA we've got a different model that's more direct and quicker. So if we see something coming we'll go to all the research.
Natalie Collard: 35:48
We've already done the farmer surveys. We've already got on topics, but also deep dive with farmers as needed and put submissions together on farmers' behalf. So we try and make it as pain-free for farmers as possible and then to follow that up and close the loop and get feedback. And there was one time when this was a webinar, when I put forward a topic for discussion, I got 20 phone calls that day and from farmers. So I knew, okay, they are very responsive, they are watching everything we do and they don't like this. So we adjusted the policy and that was easy and quick to do and not a problem and they had really sound reasons. But it's really interesting, when you're operating like that, how responsive farmers can be. So we learn when we're not representing the majority view. And we're a broad church and that's okay and that's reasonable. But we've got to make sure we're demonstrating that we're putting forward the majority perspective and that's evidenced as well.
Kirsten Diprose: 36:54
I suppose your NFFs and I'm in Victoria, the VFF. It is very much branch-related. It's representative, you get a vote and that's their goal. Your goal is probably more advocacy, Is that right?
Natalie Collard: 37:08
So we don't exist just to do policy. We exist more for the advocacy side of it. You're spot on, and our mission is deep economy-wide emissions reductions this decade, and that includes the rest of the economy, like really first and then ag doing our bit. What's really good about that is we know where we're playing and where we're not. We're not here to duplicate the great work others are doing. We support them. I've come from that system and love it. We're a member of that system right now and love it. But it's also about how do we get the results for farmers, how do we advocate and how do we? As a new organisation, we've got opportunities to grow, benefit from what we see and appreciate and respect from the legacy organizations, but also to do the how in a more modern way that suits current lifestyles.
Kirsten Diprose: 38:00
What are some of the opportunities when it comes to the changing climate? Climate change? We wish it wasn't happening. We want to try and turn things around as much as we can, but the reality is we are already in a changed climate, and it's unfortunately. The projections aren't looking great till we, as a global system, start actually really reducing emissions. So with that, though, what opportunities are there for us as farmers? Because there's that really dire message about climate change, but there's actually some good stories for us. There are some business opportunities for us that we really should be paying attention to, I think.
Natalie Collard: 38:46
Yeah, if we can move through the feeling and the fear, and that's easy to say. And again, I think about the people really suffering under climate change right now. My heart goes out to them and it is such a weighty thing. So I don't speak flippantly, but when you take a step back and take the longer term view, you realise that we've never had an opportunity like this as ag like literally never. You remember that saying in the 50s Australia was built off the sheep's back, yeah, and it was sold all around the world and it was just so valued and if you were a pastoralist, you were like so wealthy and respected in the community and you were like that's who our politicians were and the leaders of society were from ag and it was a really like prosperity and ag went hand in hand together. It was a given.
Natalie Collard: 39:42
I think we can get back to that or a new version of that, because, for instance, some of the opportunities we've got are the communities being educated about food and fibre in a way that they haven't before, and how to tell the difference between high integrity, sustainable food and fibre and that isn't, and willing to pay a premium for it. It used to be that if you cared about the planet or animals or the world you live in, you automatically just went vegan right and people are still doing that today because they're not educated, whereas this carbon neutral beef you can select if you want. That. That's an option and it's at a premium for a reason, but that person can pay it and be really healthy and be able to fit their values and their goals and support ag as well. There's also a lot of dollars coming to ag, so market access and things like that securing the premium prices. We're seeing some of them increased, some not where they should be yet. So there's really we're trying to find and land where that premium land price is and how to get it to where it's really worth it for farmers to invest and to make a difference.
Natalie Collard: 41:01
We're seeing great support for ag that could be better targeted. I think still to come. Some of it's quite broad, but the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and NAB have just issued low interest or no interest loans where you can actually invest in clean technologies on farm to make a difference. We'd like to get the range of that expanded because, for instance, some of the things we're learning is in conventional farming. If you've got an Optaway on your farm. You can actually really reduce emissions just by measuring and understanding your stock better and send them to market quicker and actually feed them for six weeks less. Six weeks less on farms is better dollars for you and reduced emissions and it's a win-win right, that's such a great example.
Kirsten Diprose: 41:49
We have OptiWay and just love it because it's just easier, it makes the whole process of weighing cattle easier and saves money and time and labor. But yeah, the win-win but that other win isn't measured. And I think that's a problem that we as farmers face is there are lots of things that we do that have added value in both just a business sense, but a climate or environmental sense that still aren't measured. If you participate in a renewable energy project, we don't get to claim the emissions reduction on our farm because it goes back into the grid. How do we get some of that?
Natalie Collard: 42:32
You don't, even right now, get to access any of the actual clean energy, right, you're forced to still use dirty energy, which is nuts. But some farmers are measuring the OptiWay, so we're looking at that. It's early days, but how we measure that and then use that as a test case because people don't think of it as climate action. But it is right. It's massive climate action and it's one that people don't have to completely change how they farm to use. There's lots of people using it, like yourself, and it works. It makes sense. The right climate solutions won't be done just because they're good for the climate. They're going to hit the four Ps. That's how you'll know they're right. So they're the sort of things that we're really keen and shopping around funders to help us do some research and reports and get this stuff out there, because I know if we get that out there to government, some of this is Australian technology, so it's like helping every bit of the sector, not just ag. It's helping the planet, the environment, but it's also helping industry as well. So they're the sort of things we want to focus on. You mentioned renewables as well. We're doing a lot on renewables, partly because there's a lot to improve about the energy shift and how it's rolled out in regional communities and how we get serious about community benefit sharing, neighbour payments and getting our fair piece of the pie. We don't want to just ask farmers and regional communities to host them. That's getting a bit rude. We want to participate and benefit from it as well. Once we do that, there's actually incredible data about how this can really shift the prosperity of regional communities long term. So the life of a project is 30 years.
Natalie Collard: 44:19
One of the projects that's happening right now is called Winterborne Wind. It's in New England. It's a wind farm. That council has a population of around 3,000 people, which is about 1,000 residential homes and businesses people, which is about a thousand residential homes and businesses. They are going to share 90% of a $30 million plus community benefit fund. Imagine what that means for that size of population, right, what's possible, what that means for people growing up that are born today. What kind of community they'll experience compared to their parents experienced growing up there. What options they'll have. When you combine that with the options that technology gives us to live and work at home, to stay regional, it's holding prosperity, local, it's businesses, it's community, it's quality of life, this goes far beyond a profit line item. It's triple bottom line.
Kirsten Diprose: 45:18
Does the community get to say where that money goes?
Natalie Collard: 45:22
Yeah, so they're on the panel that decides it Absolutely. We're also seeing rolled out in quite a lot of areas energy bill discounts. So you mentioned your energy bill as energy bill discounts. So whether you mentioned your energy bill, so everyone's getting about $200 off every quarterly energy bill, which means for most people, no bill right. And so if that's what you are getting directly, because there's a wind farm or solar farm hosted in your postcode, you're like go for it, this is great, love this. Let's make sure we get that recommissioned because it's actually making a difference to you and your life and it's tangible.
Natalie Collard: 46:01
So we're in a world where we're providing tangible food and fiber to sell in Australia and overseas. The returns we want are not just pats on the back and a community consultation where nothing actually changes. What we want is to be partners in it and to actually leverage the benefits that we deserve to receive and benefit from. But also, even if you're not in a regional community, you want this because you don't want an Australia of winners and losers. We need to access also clean energy. So we're a partner in the bid for the agrivoltaic CRC. But we also went hard on an election ask around on-farm batteries and we got a pledge from the government to do this. So we're writing and sharing to the prime minister our 2,300 signatures for this open letter for on-farm batteries to hold him to this pledge, because actually a lot of farms already have solar panels. If we can make it affordable and easy to get battery to store it, that actually is game-changing for energy independence.
Natalie Collard: 47:11
Farmers are by nature independent. You don't go out and run a farm. If you're really hankering to work for someone else or have someone else make decisions for you, there's already enough about your operating environment that you can't control and you're managing risk. Where we can actually create control, we want to do that. But we're in an area where resilience matters. Outages cost farms. We're doing a study with some farmers in what the Power Corps is commissioned to study, which they've briefed us on the results in Western Victoria, where what we're learning is power outages can cost the farmers interviewed between $28,000 to $100,000 in a single day of lost revenue. That is a lot. So imagine if you had stored power to help you through those times. How game-changing If you're selling and you want to sell to a premium market and you're able to get off diesel generators to use stored clean energy, that's net zero. That's actually changing your carbon profile and your emissions profile, and maybe you're going to access a premium price for your product. Right, that's going to support market access.
Natalie Collard: 48:26
So what I would say to farmers is get on to know your number, don't worry what it is, don't worry about what you've already done and saved on it. Just benchmark it now where you can and be proud of yourself, because it's inevitable that you will be reducing that number. It's just what you do without even thinking, by choosing the right inputs and decisions for your business. All these things are coming. They're going to be supported to get to you. We're going to do supported to get to you. We're going to do our bit. You'll tell us what you want or what you don't want, but rest easy on certain things that you've been innovating. Farmers have been looking after the land and their animals and their families and their regions forever Can't farm if you don't care about those things. You can't be successful. So you're doing it. It's in your DNA. Get your number done, get your baseline and know that you're going to be supported on the way. We're putting up our hand to support you.
Kirsten Diprose: 49:26
Thank you, Natalie. I think that's about it. Is there anything that I've missed that you'd like to add?
Natalie Collard: 49:32
I'm interested in what you're keen on and are excited to talk about at the summit in September.
Kirsten Diprose: 49:38
I think it's just meeting other farmers from right across Australia really different walks of life and different farming systems and hearing their stories and connecting with them and coming up with ideas for your own farm, but also coming up with ideas on, perhaps how you might approach policymakers or be part of that broader conversation. And I think you mentioned before feeling safe and I think that's a big part of it. I don't like to get political as in. I really don't want to be seen to be supporting one party or another or anything like that. I just want good policy and I don't care which party you're from. I want good people with integrity, people with smarts and good policy and that's all I care about. So I'm looking forward to having conversations where we can focus on that and not all the other stuff. And yeah, because I'm not interested in that and now that the federal election is over, we can move away from, hopefully, all the politicking that's going and the backroom things that are going on. I just have zero interest in that.
Natalie Collard: 50:48
It's such a waste of time and energy, isn't it? And actually on the third day after the formal summit we're having a farmers only. On the third day after the formal summit we're having a farmers-only session. So farmers want to opt in? They can let us know. But because sometimes even asking questions about the science or about the policies or what politicians are saying or what farm leaders are saying can feel uncomfortable to say because it can feel by its nature a political question or a not a team player question so we can all in-house everyone's welcome to say whatever they want at the summit.
Natalie Collard: 51:21
But I would definitely say, if you get a ticket and you want to join us at the farmer only workshop as well, let us know, because you'd be so welcome and that's a really extra safe space to play and just hang out together as farmers only. So it's going to be cool. Thank you.
Kirsten Diprose: 51:38
Yeah, I think the most exciting part is to take away lots of notes and have people that then you can call up. And they can call you six months down the track, because that's the hardest thing is you go oh yeah, I'm going to do that, but by the time the season comes around and you get to implement it, a year might've passed and you think, oh gosh, I wish I had someone I could ask. But if there's someone who's already done it and yeah, because not everything's perfect you mentioned batteries before and I'm looking forward to battery power, but it's not a great option for us just yet, but hopefully in the future it will be. So how do I think about it now, so that when it does become a bit more viable we can use it?
Natalie Collard: 52:24
We're definitely going to have to help farmers get rid of the sense of like pressure and guilt, because of course, it's going to be a year before you can implement a lot of it. It's going to be longer, and sometimes I say to people reach out to us, we won't forget you, even if it's in two years. Just reach out, don't feel embarrassed, don't feel like there's a time limit or anything. Genuinely not. And farmers get that with each other, I think, as well. Yeah, absolutely.
Kirsten Diprose: 52:46
Natalie Collar, thank you so much for joining me on Ducks on the Pond.
Natalie Collard: 52:50
Awesome to be here. Thanks, Kirsten pond.
Kirsten Diprose: 52:57
Awesome to be here. Thanks, kirsten. And that's it for this episode of Ducks on the Pond. Thank you to Natalie Collard, the CEO of Farmers for Climate Action. Check out the program for the National Summit called Farming Forever. It's on from September 1 to 3. And if you book your tickets, I'll see you right there in Canberra. I can't wait. Thank you to By CC Fine Jewellery for sponsoring this season. Just a reminder the promo code for your chance to win a beautiful gold ring it's the Piper Ring is PONDS7. All in caps, one word just head to the Ducks on the Pond website and enter that code for your chance to win. This is a Rural Podcasting Co production. We also produce Town Criers, which is a comedic look at small towns. We've just done a couple of Grampians Towns, Willaura and Moyston. We also make a pop culture podcast called Two Smart Blondes, and are you looking to create a podcast? We can help with that too. Check out the website Rural Podcasting Co for more details. Thank you so much for listening. I'll catch you again soon.
