38 French farmers from all different regions of France applied for a tour organized by the agricultural French magazine “Réussir”.

They’ve come to visit and see how Australia’s agribusiness operates (being a member of the Cairns group)  and understand the international impact of its agriculture and its specific issues and successes.

They were greeted to their first “cuppa” (cup of tea) at the Grace Hotel and sat down to a presentation on the agriculture of Australia by Diane Naggar, Senior Trade Adviser at the French Trade Commission Ubifrance in Australia. Despite the fact they had arrived the night before, there were no signs of jetlag and the audience was showing many signs of wonder and interest.

They were given key & up-to-date figures, trends and issues that farmers in different parts of this huge continent face on a daily basis, the challenges posed by climatic extremes and the logistics headaches they have to solve.

Their main questions concerned the ability of farmers to survive without or with such insignificant government allowances (4% of subsidies in most cases). They were amazed by the success stories despite the drastic droughts and dramatic floods that farmers are dealing with. They also asked quite a few questions about the quarantine restrictions on food products, particularly on raw milk.

An hour and a half later, they boarded their bus that would take them from Cowra to Mareeba, visiting vineyards, a sheep farm, beef feedlots, potatoes growers, cane sugar and peanuts farms and a dairy farm.

Bon voyage!