243. The AgZero 2030 Journey: Simon Wallwork & Cindy Stevens on a growing agriculture-led movement

Simon Wallwork and Cindy Stevens live with their three kids on a farm in Corrigin, in WA’s wheatbelt. In 2019 they joined a group of other producers to found AgZero2030, an agriculture-led movement progressing positive action on climate. Their goal? That agriculture achieves net zero emissions by 2030, and the drawdown of emissions after that. In other words, that agriculture go from being a key contributor to global warming and its increasingly catastrophic effects, to being a key contributor to reversing it, and regenerating ecosystems and economies everywhere. And they’re finding a way to connect with people and politics across the board, including First Nations knowledge and enterprise, to achieve it.

There was a bit of wind about on this day, but we took cover among the trees, grappled with mic changes, and got through mostly unscathed! Which was just as well, as this turned out to be a very personal conversation about the origins of AgZero2030, and a prescient one through to the present day, with an uncanny exchange on the trajectory of insurance in a warming world.

This episode was originally released as episode seven of a series of nine episodes I produced a few years ago for the Clean State podcast, dedicated to regenerative transitions in my home state of Western Australia. Sadly, the podcast and its host non-profit are no more. But the series of episodes featured such brilliant guests and stories, that are still so very relevant, and not just to West Australians, so we resolved to re-release them here.

To hear the rest of the Clean State series, and more stories of regeneration from around WA, Australia and the world, follow The RegenNarration wherever podcasts are found, or on the website.

You can access the Clean State Plan, and its brilliantly formatted Summary, towards the bottom of the episode web page below.

And for more from behind the scenes, become a supporting listener via the links below.

Recorded at Kings Park, Perth / Boorloo on 11 March 2021.

Title slide: Simon & Cindy (supplied).

With thanks to the CCWA, auspicing organisation for Clean State WA, for permission to re-release this series.

Music:
Eden

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Episode Transcript

Cindy (00:00):
The lack of leadership on a federal level.
e were getting reallyfrustrated about and voicing
that and having thoseconversations at home.
And of course, our kids arelistening to these conversations
And our youngest, Archie,kind of piped up one night and
said, well, what are you guysdoing about it?
And we kind of looked at eachother and said, yeah, well, what
are we doing about it.

(00:20):
And that's when Simon put outthe tweet and he got a massive
response, way more than what wehad expected from other farmers.

AJ (00:35):
G'day and welcome to the Clean State WA podcast.
My name's Anthony James fromThe RegenNarration podcast, on
board with you here for thisspecial series dedicated to our
home state of Western Australiaand the newly released Clean
State Jobs Plan.
Simon Wallwork and CindyStevens are farmers from the
Wheatbelt of Western Australiaand part of the founding group

(00:58):
behind AgZero 2030, anagriculture-led movement
progressing positive action onclimate.
Their goal?
T hat agriculture achieves netzero emissions by 2030 and the
drawdown of emissions after that.
In other words, thatagriculture go from being a key
contributor to global warmingand its increasingly

(01:20):
catastrophic effects to being akey contributor to reversing it
and regenerating ecosystems andeconomies everywhere.
And they're finding a way toconnect with people and politics
across the board, includingFirst Nations, knowledge and
enterprise, to achieve it.
Simon and Cindy met me at KingsPark, overlooking Derbal

(01:40):
Yerrigan, the Swan River, forthis conversation.
Now, Cindy, you chose this spot, so can you talk to it?
ell us where we are and whywe're here.

Cindy (01:50):
Today we're at Kings Park , which I mean I really value
the Australian bush and I guessI was thinking about why I love
this spot so much in Perth and Ithink probably when we were
studying at UWA, we used to needthat downtime and this was such
an invigorating kind of space Iused to love running in and

(02:11):
visiting.
So, yeah, beautiful.

AJ (02:14):
It smells so rich today too, with the dampness in the air
and a little rain overnight.
It's magnificent, and we wouldhave been at the ocean if you
had your way to, simon, probably, which kin with my interests,
but another day for that.
Next time we'll be in the surf,of course.
In an ideal world we might havebeen at the farm itself.
So we're not there today, butlet's bring the farm into the

(02:35):
fray.
So I do want to talk us throughthe feeling of bringing a
family up out there in the wheatbelt in the community of
Corrigan yeah, thanks, anthony.

Simon (02:44):
Um, well, I guess.
I guess it's not something Ireally planned on when I was
thinking about my agriculturalcareer, but Cindy and I studied
agriculture together andsubsequently got married and
we're working in the industryand eventually the opportunity
came to go back to Cindy'sfamily farm and since we've had

(03:05):
three children there and it hasbeen a wonderful existence so
far and and I understand whyCindy was pretty keen to raise
her kids on the farm, because itcertainly provides them a
well-rounded upbringing and thatconnection to the land and
vegetation, etc.
So it's been great.

AJ (03:23):
Give us a sense of your journey, I guess, through the
farming over the last 18 yearsor so together, how it led to
playing a hand in forming AgZero 2030.

Simon (03:35):
Yeah.
So I suppose it really startedIn our science education we
became aware that climate changewas an issue that the globe
essentially was facing.
At that point it was quite atheoretical type concept to us.
But when we started farming andfor me the turning point was
probably 2010, which was ourdriest season on record, by a

(03:59):
fair margin and it really got melooking at some of the trends
that were happening with ourclimate locally and further
across the wheat belt and it'squite clear to me that our
winter rainfall in particularwas decreasing, we were getting
more severe frost events,temperatures were rising, etc.
So that got my interest in aprogram called the Climate

(04:21):
Champion Program, which was aprogram run across Australia
where farmers got together todiscuss these things but also
interact with scientists, Bureauof Met Staff etc.
And start talking about climatechange and how it's affecting
us as farmers and how we'readapting to it.
So from there, it was probablythe last federal election or

(04:43):
thereafter that the frustrationlevels built to a point where we
just thought our industry wasreally on the back foot in our
response to climate change andreally the conversation wasn't
open.
There's a number of thingsrisks, opportunities coming our
way and we didn't feel ourindustry was being proactive
enough.
So we reached out to otherfarmers, other industry

(05:06):
professionals and essentiallycalled a meeting, a seminar,
where we had 60 people along,back in September 2019, and
that's where Ag Zero was born,essentially so, and now it's a
movement that's reallyencouraging our industry to
create a positive response toclimate change.

AJ (05:27):
And, cindy, did I pick up right that it was one of your
children that put a question toyou guys along the lines of what
are you doing about climate?
And I guess that's just by wayof segueing to what it is at a
personal level that makes youcare this much.

Cindy (05:43):
Yeah, absolutely.
I guess Simon and I we'rescience-based, evidence-based we
can see the trends and the lackof leadership on a federal
level.
We were getting reallyfrustrated about and voicing
that and having thoseconversations at home.
And of course, our kids arelistening to these conversations
and our youngest, archie, kindof popped up one night and said,

(06:07):
well, what are you guys doingabout it?
And we kind of looked at eachother and said, yeah, well, what
are we doing about it?
I mean, clearly we can't leanon government to lead this in
this space at the moment, likewe actually need to get up and
do something.
And that's when Simon put outthe tweet and he got a massive
response way more than what wehad expected from other farmers

(06:31):
which then brought together fourlike-minded people.
And then the forum followedabout three months later and we
had 60 participants from withinindustry as well as farming.
We had 60 participants fromwithin industry as well as
farming.
So and I guess farmers, youknow we do want to leave a
landscape in better conditionthan when we kind of inherited
it and that's part of our role,I think, as custodians and you

(06:54):
want to be role modelling toyour kids.
We're not just sitting back andwhinging.
We're actually getting out androlling up our sleeves and we've
got skin in the game and makingchanges.
So, and definitely being on thefront foot, I guess we've seen
in some aspects, like thelivestock industry and what
happened with the live sheepexport and being caught on the
back foot we really felt like weneed to actually get up and

(07:16):
have a say before someone elsekind of makes the decisions for
us.

AJ (07:21):
In some of the stuff I've read from you guys, you actually
do use the word prosperityamongst it and you use the word
before Simon opportunity, thatit's not just trying to hedge in
a problem, you're trying toestablish new grounds for
success and prosperity.
What does prosperity mean inthe bigger sense?

Simon (07:41):
I think one we need to acknowledge we're part of the
problem.
From agriculture's point ofview Not a significant Well.
We're not the leader in theproblem, we're about 13% of
emissions approximately.
But probably more importantfrom our perspective is that we
can be a key player in thesolution, and from that I mean

(08:03):
we've got the opportunity toassist, draw down the carbon in
trees or soil.
We can adopt practices thatreduce emissions ourselves as
farmers and in essence, we arereducing pollution through those
changes.
And if we're going to beplanting more trees,
particularly on areas that needit, not replacing food

(08:23):
production, then to me that'sprosperity.
We're leaving the place in abetter way state than when we
started with it and we've helpedaddress climate change.

Cindy (08:35):
And around prosperity.
It's about enriching our ownlives, but also that of further
future generations.
And it's not just our part ofthe planet, you know, it's the
whole planet.
We are so globally linked nowfuture generations.
And it's not just our part ofthe planet, you know, it's the
whole planet.
We are so globally linked now.
You know I mean things.
I mean mental health.
There's all sorts of issuesthat are coming up and I think
the economic driven policieshave really not effectively

(09:00):
dealt with the environment andglobal kind of health on many
levels.
So it has lots of meanings.
It's not just linked witheconomics anymore.

AJ (09:09):
Yes, in fact, through a lot of my conversations it comes out
that really, if agriculture,despite its, you know, 10 or 12%
technical contribution toemissions, but in the bigger
picture scale of things, thatbigger picture prosperity, it's
actually if there's, it'sactually if there's not
sustainable agriculture, there'snot sustainable anything and wa

(09:31):
is sort of that.
That applies big time with.
So much of our state is eithera pastoral station or farming.
You're talking about thefunctioning, the ecological
function of our entire state islargely in agriculture's hands.
It's the basis of everything weever do, let alone the direct
sort of food, fibre, fuelprovision, and in that sense I

(09:52):
mean it's an excitingopportunity which I'm sure you
guys feel, and theresponsibility you talked about.
Is there another side that youfeel a little?
I don't know?
Expectations have come out ofthe woodwork and piled on
agriculture all of a sudden.
Personally, I don't knowexpectations have come out of
the woodwork and piled onagriculture all of a sudden.

Simon (10:07):
Personally, I don't get those messages.
My interactions with city folk,for example, are generally
quite positive and I feel asense of pride in what farmers
do.
But I do understand that, morebroadly, consumers are looking
for change as well in how weproduce food.
So I'm realistic in that sense.

(10:27):
But we do need to celebrate asan industry what we achieve and
how we have improved our landmanagement practices over time.
The key part there is that wekeep improving, we keep being
open to change.
If we stop now, then we're notin a good position to manage
these challenges that are comingtowards us.

Cindy (10:49):
You make a good point.
I mean, I think consumers aremore aware of their food and
fibre and from lots of fronts,they're wanting animal welfare,
they're wanting sustainability,they're wanting carbon
neutrality and there's lots offronts that we now need to look
at on our products.
It's encouraging thatorganisations like CBH are

(11:11):
actually doing a big marketresearch project looking at MRLs
, carbon neutrality,sustainability, all those
factors and how they're going tosegregate our commodities
according to what overseasconsumers, but also local
consumers, are wanting.
So there is kind of pressurefrom different points,
absolutely, but I think there isa bit of empathy from city folk

(11:37):
that it's a challenge andperhaps we need time to kind of
respond to market, the marketsignals.

AJ (11:45):
And the name Ag Zero is with reference to being net zero
emissions by 2030, and do I takeit from that that post 2030
we're into the drawdown ofemissions territory?

Cindy (11:58):
Negative emissions woo.

AJ (11:59):
Yeah, right on, tell us what made you sort of structure, the
whole setup, like that, and,and I guess, what net zero means
.

Simon (12:07):
For those who might not be familiar, Well, I guess when
we had that first conference atUWA back in September 2019, we
talked about where we needed tobe and I think some mentioned
that, say, 2040, 2050, but therewas general consensus in the
room that there is some level ofurgency with climate change and

(12:30):
we really need to get on withthe solutions and adopting those
solutions.
And you know, the science ispretty clear that really to have
a chance of keeping globalwarming below two degrees
Celsius, we need to be carbonneutral there or nearby, by 2030
.
So that's where that bit camefrom.
In terms of drawdown, yeah, ofcourse, from agriculture's point

(12:51):
of view, we, once we'veachieved net zero which is
achievable and there will beincentives to be involved in
that, not just from a carbonmarket point of view, but there
are benefits in productivity byadopting some of these practices
.
It's not necessarily mutuallyexclusive the idea of reducing
emissions and productivity.

(13:12):
You can do both.
So once we meet net zero, thenfrom there we look at drawing
down carbon and helping otherindustries essentially get
carbon CO2 out of the atmosphere.

Cindy (13:24):
And this next decade is absolutely vital.
I think we all recognize thatthis, this is our big
opportunity, because if we pushit out any further, then the
costs on so many levels is goingto be far more expensive.
Um, so yeah, 2030, we felt.
I mean it's, it's certainlyambitious, but 2040 and 2050 are

(13:45):
too late.

AJ (13:46):
Yeah, yeah no, it feels like it, it's sort of almost now.
Yes, it just needs to be donenow, and so that gives us a
decade to hit marks.
But go now, which is of course,what you've done with this, and
the supporter list is prettyextensive and pretty high
profile.
Is there a change on that front, like in that trajectory with
your community, with thesupporter base?

(14:06):
Has there been a real shift interms of the extent of
conversations, the extent ofaction?

Simon (14:12):
Yeah, look, I think there's a fair sway of farmers
now that really recogniseclimate change as a major
challenge, and not just throughthe literature or the
conversations that are happening, but through their own eyes.
They're actually experiencingit.
Unfortunately, the politicalnature of the topic has meant

(14:34):
that the conversation has been,you know, reduced to some extent
, particularly over the lastdecade where it's there's been a
lot of political turmoil aroundthis, so researchers have
retreated to some extent, Ithink.
But now this conversation'sopening up and in some part
that's to do with what Ag Zerohas sort of opened up, and we're
just finding now that we cantalk more openly about climate

(14:55):
change with researchers, withfellow farmers, leaders, et
cetera.

Cindy (15:00):
It's a lot safer.
I think we've made it safer tohave those conversations and
there's actually a lot moresupport and a lot more people
watching and listening andlearning than what we kind of
realise.
But it's not only farmers, it'sactually agribusiness as well,
and agribusiness is starting tocome to us and other
organisations and saying well,what do we need to do to start

(15:23):
developing products that canhelp us get to net zero
emissions, which is reallyencouraging.
So it's, it's really a lot ofleadership is happening from the
grassroots and industry.

AJ (15:34):
And you feel like there's a quiet, maybe even majority of
farmers out your way actuallythat are coming on to the
conversation and and wanting tolearn and look at the
opportunities.

Cindy (15:45):
I think so definitely, and particularly in the medium
to low rainfall areas whereclimate change is having a
negative effect, because I meanit's actually not having a
negative effect everywhere.
A lot of the coastal regionsand higher rainfall areas, where
they've only been able to runlivestock, can now crop and are
benefiting from very high yields.

(16:06):
So we're not all experiencingthe same thing with climate
change, but certainly in themedium to low rainfall areas
there's suffering and change.
That's very visible.

AJ (16:20):
The Department of Primary Industries is one of your
supporters.
The climate policy of the WAgovernment was notoriously
vacant of climate policy lastyear.
What's that relationship like?
What can you say about thatrelationship?

Simon (16:33):
Well, I guess within the department there is a fair bit
of expertise and I suppose,going back to what I said before
, just due to this topic, thecontroversial nature of it,
perhaps the expertise didn'thave that clear air they needed
to really get on with, with umdoing what they need to do, and

(16:55):
so, from that perspective, Ithink our relationship is really
in trying to empower thatexpertise within deep heard, and
we'll certainly be talking withthem, working with them on
these things, um, yeah, andobviously we would like the
state government to be a lotmore ambitious.
Queensland and New South Waleshave much more ambitious climate

(17:15):
policies from an agriculturalperspective and a land
restoration perspective.
We're well behind those states.
So we're a very wealthy state,very powerful gas industry and
we've got very high emissions.
So we need to get cracking.

Cindy (17:32):
I think, look, we have engaged with Deep Herd and have
had preliminary talks aboutprojects working together and we
have a relationship with theMinister who's supportive of
what we do and we were alsoinvolved in calculating carbon

(17:53):
emissions with a pilot projectthrough MLA and Deeper and that
that's really encouraging, thatDeeper can kind of coordinate
that and are interested andthey're looking at being carbon
neutral in their facility andkind of showcasing that and
evidencing a pathway, I guess.
But yeah, of course there'salways.

AJ (18:15):
We need it faster and more yes, and at the sort of higher
levels where it hasn't brokenthrough quite yet.
Yes, yes, and WA again,uniquely challenged in some
respects.
Hey, driest years the last twoyears and then, paradoxically in
a sense, but not really, if youunderstand the science that
frost is actually one of themajor consequences of the
warming at a global level.

(18:36):
And the warming at a globallevel, atmospheric
concentrations at a global level, atmospheric concentrations do
continue to rise as we speak.

Cindy (18:42):
Yeah, you guys must be feeling that acutely on the land
yeah, absolutely, and, simon,you'll probably remember all the
years, but I mean we've had,you know, two of our driest
years on record.
In the last kind of three years.
We've had three moderate tosevere frosts when we very early
on started farming around 2004to kind of seven.

(19:03):
That had major impacts on ourbusiness and and I think what
we've learned over the 18 yearswe've been farming is that a
resilient from total cropping tonow running sheep and cattle as

(19:24):
well as several commodities,and that diversity has really
strengthened our agro ecosystemas well as our business.
So that's been some reallyimportant learnings, because we
are having to adapt and farmersare fantastic at adapting, but
adaptation just isn't enoughanymore.
We really need to look at bothof the sides of the equation,
you know, reducing the emissionsas well as sequestering carbon,

(19:47):
and farmers are in a fortunateposition in that we do manage
both sides of the carbonequation.
So there are opportunitieswhich are really exciting.
It's just not a clear pathwayfor most farmers yet.

AJ (20:02):
It's been notable for 15 years or so that the insurance
industry has sort of in someways led the call for change
because they're getting struckby the more extreme events.
Have you found that to manifestin any way for you guys, either
in higher premiums or any otherdifficulties around insuring

(20:23):
operations on the land?

Simon (20:24):
Yeah, it's interesting you mention that because
yesterday our insurance managercame out and renewed our
insurance for the year and Iasked him that question about
how the insurance industry isdealing with climate change and
the risks associated from theirpoint of view and he said that
they are starting to riskprofile areas based on climate

(20:48):
change and, naturally enough,that's going to influence
premiums etc.

AJ (20:52):
And the other side of the ledger is the market
opportunities and potentiallyhow exposed we are as West
Australians again to, forexample, tariffs with export
markets into Europe, with thechanges that are happening in
the world markets and that's ofthe concern to you directly.

Cindy (21:10):
Yes, absolutely.
I think the stats are.
Three quarters of our two-waytrade have committed to carbon
neutral goals either by 2050 or2060.
So they are not going to wantto be importing carbon heavy
commodities.
So the EU have flagged for sometime that they will be using

(21:34):
both a carrot and stick approach, I think.
But we hear more about thestick approach and carbon tariff
seems to be around the cornerand our products are going to be
first in line, I think, forthat.
Yeah.

AJ (21:48):
Women in agriculture.
Cindy, I'll throw this one toyou.
It's been such anunder-recognised role.
I mean, everywhere I've been,it's clearly at least a couple,
if not a family, if not anextended family, and this has
been true through thegenerations.
Here you are continuing on inagriculture and with a really
successful succession plan whichyou'll be looking to sort of

(22:12):
replicate in some manner, andit's not just in ag right, it's
in political representation,it's in the work you're doing at
Ag Zero 2030.
Give us a sense of, I guess,where that's at for you, what's
important, where you'd like tosee it go.

Cindy (22:23):
Yeah, hugely topical at the moment, isn't it?
And and I think related equityand diversity on all levels is
it's all related.
It's related to climate,political representation,
managing our landscape on somany levels.
So yeah, when I did a Bachelorof Science in Agriculture with

(22:44):
Simon and I don't know what thepercentage would have been, but
it may have been 15% to 20%females, but we've had, I see,
that representation.
We went to the GRDC crop updatesand the younger demographic
wandering around.
It was closer to 50-50, whichis really encouraging.
But it'd be great to see morefemale leaders.

(23:07):
I think there's women workingin the industry but they don't
necessarily take leadershippositions and I think it's
probably they need encouragingfrom elders, whether it's good
men or whether it's from otherwomen, so they really need to be
tapped on the shoulder and say,hey, look, you need to try this
, you'd be fantastic.
So I think that's part of theequity and it needs to be

(23:30):
agriculture and politics.
It all needs to representgrassroots, which is very
diverse, and then I think we allget our views heard and our and
policy will reflect what thegrassroots wants.
To be honest, I didn't think Iwould come back to the farm.
I just happened to meet someonewho was in, involved in the
same industry and it's beenfantastic.

(23:53):
It's the best place to bring upkids.
You it's your economically andemotionally invested in the
industry and you have uh, you'rea customer.
You are absolutely a custodianof the land and communities are
fantastic places and we reallyneed to promote that and there's

(24:13):
.
There's so many opportunities.
I think moving ahead it'sexciting yeah and it's really
for all our benefits.
Absolutely In that sense.

AJ (24:22):
And you use the word custodian.
That seems to be increasinglyappropriate, perhaps as it
always used to be in thiscountry.

Cindy (24:31):
Certainly the Indigenous perspective and their views and
involvement will be reallyimportant, I think, moving
forward, I think there's so muchknowledge that we have to learn
and share and it would just begreat to get that
cross-fertilisation of ideas inboth a modern kind of global
system but also from thegrassroots kind of historical

(24:54):
perspective that our FirstNations people kind of bring.

AJ (24:57):
That segues actually perfectly, because I wanted to
come, simon, to the fact thatyou are involved with the
Noongar Land Enterprise Grouptoo and, as I understand it,
that came from really justdeciding again to take
responsibility, just stopwaiting for other people to do
stuff.
You went out on country for abit, a family trip for a bunch
of months, met First Nationsmore than you had before, came

(25:22):
back and joined with people andsort of got involved in the
journey of regenerating trustand then seeing how First
Nations people can getenterprise going on their lands
and come back onto country andall that sort of stuff.
How's that been and give us asense of the work you do there.

Simon (25:39):
It's been quite an amazing journey.
Actually, the idea of theNoongar Land Enterprise Group
was born with support fromDepartment of Primary Industries
, and it's based on the conceptthat different Aboriginal
families or groups that haveaccess to their own land work
together on enterprises businessenterprises that will then have

(26:00):
flow-on benefits from a socialand cultural point of view and
allow them to have activeparticipation and presence on
their own country, instead ofleasing that land out to
non-indigenous folk, for example.
So it's a very proactive,self-determining way of, you
know, addressing some of thequite large challenges they face

(26:21):
.
So I came on in 2017 as theirfirst executive officer and
really it's about supporting thelandholders investigate
innovative enterprises.
They have more of a focus onenterprises that are quite
synergistic with the Australianlandscape.

(26:42):
They're not so interested inbroadacre cropping, for example.
Livestock yes, because you canuse native species in a
livestock enterprise, but thingslike honey production, native
foods, obviously, culturaltourism and even carbon.
From that perspective,indigenous communities have a
really important part to play inaddressing climate change and

(27:03):
also including the knowledgethat they hold, of course.

AJ (27:06):
Yes.
So what is the next step for AgZero 2030?
Where to from here?

Simon (27:10):
We'll continue on.
We do hope at one point,sometime soon, that we become
redundant.
We're not here forever.
We hope our industry gets onthe front foot and we really
tackle this problem head on, andthen we don't have to be here
anymore.
So that's the end goal, reallyyeah, and what do you need?
well, obviously, funding isalways a key point.
We're looking into that at themoment and we're quite

(27:31):
streamlined.
We're not a high costorganization.
We revolve, rely on voluntaryeffort, and we found that our
volunteers are very motivated,which is fantastic.
Obviously, it's a veryimportant issue which we're
tackling.
So I think the key thing isthat we you know people reach
out to us or vice versa when wekeep these conversations going.

AJ (27:50):
So that's really what we need is just people to get
involved and reach out if theyreally want to learn more about
the stuff and I guess, in somerespects, this having stemmed
from that conversation with your11 year old, you could imagine
speaking to a 23 or somethingyear old in 2030 and having a
conversation which is more likethanks for doing that yeah, well

(28:14):
, hopefully that's recognized.

Simon (28:17):
We're not relying on that .

AJ (28:18):
No, it's just a responsibility.

Simon (28:21):
Yeah, yeah, we see it as a responsibility, but there's no
doubt the next generation arevery keyed into this challenge
and are very educated on it, sowe perhaps will be doing them a
disservice if we don't get onwith it ourselves, even though
we're still trying to get ourheads around a very complex
issue.
But yeah, we hope at that pointthat farming still remains a

(28:45):
very attractive profession orother related careers in
agriculture, and that ourlandscape's healthy, our
communities are healthy andwe've played a key role in
addressing climate change as anindustry.

AJ (28:59):
Bang.
Brilliant to be with youThanks for joining me.

Simon (29:01):
No worries, I'm tired now .

AJ (29:07):
That was Simon Wallwork and Cindy Stevens, wheat belt
farmers with Ag Zero 2030.
The music you're hearing is bySelfless Orchestra.
My name's Anthony James.
Thanks again for listenin, t.