Guy Barnett,Minister for Primary Industries and Water
Agfest is one of the highlights of the Tasmanian rural calendar and the Tasmanian Government is committing $300,000 in the 2020-21 State Budget to assist Rural Youth Tasmania as they look to return to the Paddock in 2021.
The iconic event has been a Tasmanian tradition for more than 35 years, and is a significant contributor to our economy.
While the decision to move Agfest 2020 online was necessary to ensure the safety of the community, we welcome its return to an outdoor event for 2021 – subject to it meeting all COVID-safe regulations – and this funding confirms our commitment to doing all we can to help.
This latest funding comes after we provided $65,000 to develop an online Agfest portal for 2020 that helped showcase Tasmania’s high-quality merchandise to the world.
The funding will also provide support to the Rural Youth organisation, its membership and the many initiatives it does to support young rural Tasmanians.
Well done to Rural Youth and the Agfest Committee for their ongoing work and commitment to Agfest and I look forward to it returning to the outdoors for 2021.
Agfest’s return to the paddock will help to support our vision to grow the farm-gate value of agriculture to $10 billion by 2050.
