NSW Farmers Federation president Derek Schoen has pushed for communication in the lobby group to modernise but claimed mobile black spots were hampering the process.
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In his original pitch to secure the presidency of the organisation last July, Mr Schoen said farmers ought to look into interacting more efficiently online.
But he said many of the federation’s rural members were left languishing in data black spots.
“Often we hear a provider saying we can stream this and you can stream that, but if it takes a full 10 minutes to download a page of writing, you’re not going to be able to stream anything,” he said.
The old method of turning up to a cold hall somewhere and conducting a meeting seems to be of the past
- Derek Schoen
“That is still a major thing that we are pushing hard on - that connectivity is still very poor in the regional areas.”
High internet speeds would help facilitate online meetings between the membership, according to Mr Schoen.
“We’re looking at new forms of meeting,” he said.
“The old method of turning up to a cold hall somewhere and conducting a meeting seems to be of the past.
“There are a number of different platforms that we can use, it could be through Skype and there are also some meeting apps people can use.
“We’re looking at all different possibilities of engaging our members.”
But for now the body was looking at teleconferences on phone lines to enable communication with isolated members in blackspots.
In recent years many farmers have taken to Twitter, comparing crop photos and machinery with producers from different parts of the state.
Information sharing through this medium could also prove vital in times of emergencies, such as drought or bushire.
But Mr Schoen cautioned farmers should be vigilant when using Twitter.
“A warning to farmers: just be very careful what you do tweet, because once it’s out in the ether, that’s where it stays, you can’t retract it,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Schoen listed the reform of native vegetation laws as the predominant issue of his tenure.
“Currently we’re asked to make a submission on a bill, and a crucial part of that bill will be maps, but unfortunately those maps are not available currently,” he said.