The long and the short – this membership allows you to have a say on the rules, policies and grand promises that local and central governments are making that in the future, you are going to have to live with as a farm owner. But for Young Farmer members, this comes without the $476.50 price tag for farm workers, managers, rural professional’s and small farm contract milkers.
Federated Farmers has a network of farmers and rural leaders with opportunities to network within your industry on local and national levels have a huge benefit for Young Farmer individuals and clubs. As an individual you have access to a network of farmers to expand your career options through word of mouth opportunities and referrals. As a club, the opportunities to promote your club for stack covering, hay collecting, and other fundraisers is greatly expanded to a variety of farm business owners who previously wouldn’t have had a connection to your club.
By being a member now and in the future, you build up to being able stand for leadership positions at the provincial level as chair or vice chairperson for sharemilkers, dairy, and drystock industry groups, and be able to apply for positions within the national council. These positions allow you to become a spokesperson for your industry, influencing change and having the voice of the next farm generation heard. Governance training through these positions and our leadership courses, which are heavily discounted for members, have the potential to start you along the pathway to more governance opportunities outside of Federated Farmers from the school board to the board room of Fonterra.
What else? The Young Farmers membership comes with a call to our legal hotline team which provides you with that “phone a friend” ability if you feel like something isn’t quite right legally with your employment contract or to discuss a clause that you aren’t quite sure on in your milking contract. You have unlimited access to your local industry chairpeople and policy advisors regionally and nationally. You also have access to the remuneration survey, to check out what you are earning against the average, and the members only section of the website which includes policy factsheets and a new H&S forum which will include farmer lead discussion on H&S issues.