Agribusiness Summit- Liz Otto
Liz Otto’s presentation at the Mac Ag Summit was both thought provoking and informative for all farmers and agribusiness professionals. She highlighted her passion for local action on the Global Goals for Sustainability, using these as a mechanism to provide recognition for what is already being achieved and further guidance on areas for improvement.
Demonstrating her extensive knowledge on the Global Goals for Sustainability, Liz detailed how farming in Australia makes a direct positive impact towards 11 of the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. There is 19 of the 258 indicators that are measurable and nationally reportable against these goals.
Ms Otto asked participants to consider what being sustainable means for their business, why is it important and how do they plan and track progress with sustainable development. Additionally, she identified a Balanced Scorecard Perspective approach to flesh out the internal and external values of the business, set sustainability goals and identified specific actions and performance measures.
Ms Otto highlighted the importance of a planning process to guide a business through the steps to create their plan by asking the right questions. A planning framework provides the blueprint for change that maps out the future goals and create logical steps to achieve those goals. The purpose of planning processes are to bring clarity to what you and your team want to achieve and what is important, what is the current situation and what is the desired change, what capacity you have and need to get to take action, and how will you create feedback loops to track progress. This needs to be “fit for purpose to each business”.
The main focus of her presentation was to allow participants to check in with themselves and reflect on strengths, identify weaknesses, get excited about potential opportunities, and be aware of any threats. Additionally, participants were provided with her book “Future Farm Blueprint” which is a how to guide and steps you through the four key stages to planning. Definitely a great resource to have in the immediate future!
This event was proudly supported by ARTC Inland Rail, B&W Rural, Growth Agriculture, NAB, Southern Queensland Landscapes, Highways and Byways, ANZ, and received funding from the Australian Government National Landcare Program.
