Academic and farmer Josh Gilbert will be discussing his first book at Narooma Library on 25 June. Photo: Supplied.
Josh Gilbert has a radical vision for the future of Australian agriculture and people are paying attention.
The Charles Sturt University PhD candidate sits on 14 boards and committees including the Australian Conservation Foundation. He is an advisor to the Future Drought Fund Consultative Committee, the CSIRO’s Agriculture and Food Group, and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s First Nations Trade and Investment Advisory Group.
He is a regular on the speaker circuit and has been interviewed countless times.
His pioneering work and growing profile led Penguin Random House to approach him about writing a book. It was published this year.
Mr Gilbert will discuss the book Australia’s Agricultural Identity – an Aboriginal yarn at Narooma Library this month.
He comes from a long line of farmers. His family history is captured in the journals of the Australian Agricultural Company, among the earliest written records of the country’s agricultural practice.
He reconnected with those agricultural roots while at the University of Newcastle.
“Agriculture really spoke to me and from there I have been on this journey to develop agriculture and farming practically,” he said.
So, 90 per cent of the way through his law degree, Mr Gilbert dropped out to work in agriculture.
Agriculture is where Josh Gilbert wants to spend more and more of his time. Photo: Supplied.
He combines his academic studies with working on the farms of his parents and his parents-in-law.
While Bruce Pascoe’s work has examined pre-colonisation Aboriginal agricultural practices, Mr Gilbert’s book focuses on the Aboriginal people’s involvement in agriculture post-colonisation.
“It uses a lot of our personal family stories from the last 200 years, articulating Aboriginal people’s involvement since then, and what it should be in the future.”
The agricultural industry’s current structures work against Aboriginal connection to the land, something Mr Gilbert believes is to the detriment of Australian agriculture.
“Ownership gives us the ability to access Country and then building culture through agriculture for that broader perspective rather than just thinking about what can be controlled within the boundaries of an individual property.”
Aboriginal culture also brings a different relationship with livestock, one full of grace.
“There is a whole raft of beautiful stories, particularly recorded from the Northern Territory, about things like singing in language to calm stock,” he said.
Another theme of his book is unpacking ancient practices that can be used alongside those commonly used today. One example is firestick farming – burning as done for millennia to rest and restore the landscape, which could later be used for grazing.
Mr Gilbert said feedback on the book had been positive. Farmers could see the value in it while teachers could see the natural ability and flair in Aboriginal kids that made agriculture a clear pathway for them.
Josh Gilbert with Uncle Pat Connolly at a Charles Sturt University event. Photo: Supplied.
Mr Gilbert, who has spent the past 10 months studying regenerating soils here and in the US, prefers using natural solutions where he can instead of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides to solve problems.
“Why wouldn’t we use Indigenous knowledge that has been around for such a long time instead of trialling more recent science and hoping for the best?” he asked.
“It is like having the oldest, longest-spanning history book in the library that tells you all the ways this country has been perfected over time. Why not listen to that in consideration with modern science?”
He questions why 70 per cent of Australia’s agricultural commodities are exported to feed people overseas when Indigenous people struggle to access appropriate food in remote communities.
“We have to make sure our practices are sustainable and here for the long run, not based on short-term financial goals,” Mr Gilbert said. “We need to rethink the way we farm and provide food for society decently.”
His PhD on Indigenous agriculture “really leans into agriculture and the business sectors”, reflecting his degree in commerce and his interest in how agriculture can be used to bring economic development opportunities for Aboriginal people.
“We have the oldest continuous farming community in the country who understand it better than anyone, but we don’t take that opportunity.”
Mr Gilbert will be speaking about his book at Narooma Library on Wednesday 25 June at 2:30 pm. The event is free but bookings are essential.
