“Australia's farmers are well placed to manage change and to take advantage of the opportunities that change creates,” said Keith Perrett, who chairs the National Rural Advisory Council.

He went on to say that the main challenges producers will need to face include climate change, globilisation of agriculture, infrastructure improvements, changes in consumer preferences, and human resources.

Ms Sylvia Admans, chief executive of the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, highlighted the importance of forward thinking, leadership and ability to adapt when addressing labour supply shortages in rural areas.

“The foundation assisted one community by providing a special reading collection to the library to assist with literacy and speech development,” Ms Admans said.

“Commitment, pride and infrastructures allowed the community to adapt well to the development and use the resources to their fullest.”

Sue Valentine, a wheat, sheep and cattle producer in Western Australia's northern wheat belt, highlighted the challenges from a farmers" perspective.

“Future seasons hold many complications with skyrocketing costs, competition in world markets, climate change and fluctuating government policies making it hard to reduce built-up debt levels,”  she said

Ms Valentine stressed the importance of continual knowledge building and adoption of new technologies in order to remain viable."

She also said keeping an open mind was important when dealing with labour shortages.