2 October 2026. Shane McCarthy, AgForce General President .
They say a week in politics can be a long time. Imagine how long a year in agri-politics can be.
Long enough to ask hard questions. Long enough to make difficult decisions.
Long enough to change direction.
And, if you are willing to do the work, long enough to change an organisation.
This week marks one year since Niki Ford walked through the doors of AgForce as our CEO.
When Niki was appointed, we knew AgForce was entering a new chapter. The AgForce Board asked for a hard look at where we were and where we needed to be. What none of us could have predicted was just how much would be packed into the 12 months that followed.
It has been a year of change. Big change.
Niki came into the role determined to listen first – to our members, our elected representatives, our staff and the people who work alongside Queensland agriculture. Even a sit down with Larry Actin, AgForce’s first General President. Then came the harder part: acting on what she heard.
A comprehensive review of the organisation has led to significant structural change and a clearer strategic direction for the business. We have sharpened responsibilities, strengthened the connection between policy and our members, realigned how we engage across the regions and put greater focus on ensuring AgForce’s resources are directed where they can have the greatest impact for producers.
Change of that scale is rarely comfortable.
But organisations like ours don’t exist to be comfortable. They exist to champion Queensland producers and shape the decisions that will define our industry’s future.
And for AgForce, this means being strong enough to represent producers when the stakes are high.
We have certainly had plenty of those moments this year.
When Queensland producers raised serious concerns about the Critical Minerals Bill, AgForce mobilised. Our members spoke up, our regions engaged and our team took those concerns directly to Government. Significant amendments followed, including protections that preserved important safeguards for agricultural land and removed renewable energy projects, battery storage and data centres from the State Strategic Project pathway.
It wasn’t the end of that fight. But it showed what can happen when an organisation, its members and its elected representatives move together.
And there has rarely been a more important time to do it. Queensland agriculture is facing growing regulatory, economic and political pressure from almost every direction.
The same determination has driven our work on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
For more than a year, AgForce has been challenging a federal environmental framework that too often fails to understand the realities of managing a productive agricultural landscape. We have taken producers’ concerns to Canberra, sat across the table from decision-makers, brought the National Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) onto Queensland properties and kept pushing for practical outcomes.
And this week, one year after taking the CEO’s chair, Niki isn’t sitting behind a desk reflecting on the milestone.
She’s on the road.
She is travelling through regional Queensland as part of the AgForce EPBC Roadshow, sitting with producers, listening to their concerns and giving them the opportunity to speak directly to the National EPA about rules that could affect how they manage their businesses and their land.
There is something fitting about that.
Because leadership of a member organisation isn’t ultimately measured by what happens in a Brisbane office. It is measured by whether the people we represent can see us, reach us and trust us to carry their voice into the rooms they cannot always be in themselves.
We haven’t got everything right. We haven’t finished changing. And we certainly haven’t won every fight.
There is an enormous amount still to do.
But 12 months in, I believe AgForce is becoming clearer about who we are, more disciplined about what we do and increasingly determined about the outcomes we expect for Queensland producers.
Niki has brought enormous energy to that task. She has challenged the organisation to think differently, lifted our ambition and kept us focused on where AgForce needs to go next – and that is what strong leadership should do.
Because going from strength to strength doesn’t mean standing still and admiring the strength you already have. It means continuing to build on it.
So, Niki, congratulations on your first year as CEO. It has been a huge 12 months.
Thank you for backing our people, listening to our members and being prepared to make the difficult calls required to position AgForce for what comes next.
There is much to celebrate. There is even more to achieve.
And I have a feeling we’re only getting started.
Because it’s not just a slogan but the ultimate truth – Every Family needs a Farmer.
Be part of what comes next. Become an AgForce member today and add your voice to a stronger future for Queensland agriculture.
