Hundreds of farmers and fishers from across NSW converged in Dubbo on Friday to take part on the Young Farmer Business Program Conference.
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Hosted by the Young Farmer Business Program, the aim of the event was to help inspire and motivate young producers with their farm business.
Event coordinator and central west pig farmer Alexandra Hicks spoke to Australian Community Media on the Friday morning and said the conference exceeded expectations with 300 people turning out.
"We're pretty happy with the roll out, considering it being the first time," she said.
"We're really thrilled.
"People have come from all over NSW; Coffs Harbous, Taree, Delungra."
Held over February 6 and 7, the first day consisted of taking producers out to Fletchers International Exports and to farms in the region, including Geurie farmers Claire and Brendan Booth.
Yeoval farmers Amy and Justin Dickens also welcomed the young producers to their property.
"People loved it," Ms Hicks said of the farm tours.
"The feedback was really positive around the transparency of the farmers and the business owners who just opened up their books and shared their figures and told their journey. I think it's very inspiring."
On Friday the conference was held at the Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre with a range of guest speakers imparting their business wisdom.
Yellow Brick Road chairman and television star Mark Bouris focused on why farmers need to be entrepreneurs to succeed in his address.
While former Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock talked about coping in times of adversity and the focus and goal setting he had to achieve as an athlete.
"I think they've fired them up, and said if you make a vision, you can make it happen," Ms Hicks explained.
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The central west farmer added that it was very powerful seeing Stirling Mortlock playing as a Wallaby on screen for so many years and then to be able to see him on stage in the flesh.
"It's very powerful to see someone that's been at that level and now he's a wealth adviser and to see that transition and he's currently focussed on business," she said.
"There's similarities between the focus it takes to succeed in business as it does to succeed on the sporting field.
"And one of his messages was about doing your job. And that can equate to business, because we can get distracted."
With the success of the inaugural event, members of the Young Farmer Business Program are already planning for the conference to be held annually.
Geographically, Ms Hicks explained that Dubbo was such a central location in the state to allow for the guests and speakers to attend.
"We're trying to make it accessible for the audience. It has been great to see all the speakers flying in from Sydney and Melbourne and other places. We're getting them to come to us, which is good," she said.
Mixed producer Darren Mudford runs his farm business at Hermidale with his wife and children.
Mr Mudford said thew drought has been wearing things down slowly so he decided to attend Friday's conference to gather information.
"If this (drought) is our new normal it will be good to (know how) to deal with it," he explained.
The producer said it has been good to hear from Mark Bouris and Stirling Mortlock, and realising that everyone starts from scratch and has their own setbacks, but it's how it's dealt with that determines the outcome.
"I think they both had some fantastic points/ The one that drove home to me was when Stirling spoke about mindset...," Mr Mudford said.
"When he was not kicking goals he still had all the skills, so it was just getting his mindset around it and once he done that he started kicking goals again. I think that's relatable to farming how we are currently, it's not the skills that are stopping us from making a dollar..."
The Mudford family are currently experiencing their third year in drought and said anything to help in the recovery is needed and rain would fix everything.
Wellington farmer Jack Courts saw the event on social media and thought it would be a good opportunity to learn more about farm business and network.
Mr Courts attended the farm tour and said it was great to see the end product, particularly at Fletchers and with the Booth family.
One of the biggest things the young Wellington farmer learnt from the conference and will take back to his own farm business was making a plan and reviewing it.
The Court family operate predominately beef cattle and if feed permits, run sheep and grow fodder crops in winter.
He said they have been lucky enough to receive rain this past month, which has allowed the Wellington farming family to be in a better position.
"Hopefully we can back the feeding off shortly and put some early oats in," Jack said.
Australian Community Media spoke to Uralla farmer Cameron Gall during the middle of the conference and he said so far it had been really good and that there was plenty to learn.
Richard Quigley from Trangie added that it had been a "great networking opportunity."