They are the reason we have certain foods, clothes and flowers in our homes, but it seems many Australians don't fully understand the contribution farmers make to our lives.
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New research shows urban-dwelling Australians are losing touch with rural Australia. Almost a quarter of city dwellers surveyed by TNS had never visited the countryside and the majority visited rural Australia less than once a year.
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The findings were released yesterday at the launch of the Australian Year of the Farmer 2012.
Forbes dairy farmer Phillip Bruem said the Australian Year of the Farmer campaign was aimed at improving the relationship between city and bush, while celebrating the importance of farming to our economy.
''Australian farmers are some of the best in the world. ''It celebrates them for feeding the nation, for leading the world in farming techniques and innovation, and for sustaining the vital agribusiness that underpin our economy,'' he said.
A commercial wild flower grower from Gundaroo, Lana Mitchell, is the ACT ambassador for the Australian Year of the Farmer. Mitchell said Canberra, surrounded by rural areas, was a vital hub for agribusiness, which ranged from more traditional farms to new rural industries.
But she said there was a deep divide between producers and consumers.
''There seems to be a disconnection between the person who gets the end product and the person that originally produced it - many don't get the concept of where the product comes from,'' she said.
Mitchell has been growing, selling and exporting flowers all over the world for years. Her work often ends up in hospitals, weddings or funerals.
''The people that are using those don't have any concept of what it took to bring them to where they are today, so they're fresh and available,'' she said.