Rabobank’s Rabo Community Fund has teamed up with the ‘edu-tainment’ brand ‘George the Farmer’ – for its fifth year – to celebrate Children’s Book Week. Their collaboration is designed to teach children about where their food and fibre comes from in a fun and engaging way during Book Week, which this year takes place from August 22 to 28.

The specialist food and agribusiness bank – in partnership with George the Farmer – will award 100 educational institutions across the country with a collection of 14 Australian-made George the Farmer storybooks for their libraries.

Rabobank community engagement manager Skye Ward said the George the Farmer stories connect well with young readers living in rural areas thanks to his “relatability”, while giving those in urban areas a greater understanding and appreciation of agriculture.  

Ms Ward said George the Farmer’s goal of connecting children to the land, food and agriculture is a “perfect fit” with one of the Rabo Community Fund’s key aims –enhancing connections between urban and rural communities.  

“This is now the fifth year Rabobank has partnered with George the Farmer to celebrate Book Week. Each year, we are blown away by the number of applications we receive from educational institutions – including primary schools, kindergartens, pre-schools, early learning centres and childcare centres – indicating the demand for these engaging resources,” she said. “Watching children, teachers and librarians eagerly lean in to learn about farming has been really rewarding.”

In 2026, to celebrate the five-year milestone, five of the winning schools will also receive a live online ‘Meet the Author’ session with George the Farmer founder and author Simone Kain, which will include a personal video message from a Rabo Client Council member to help connect students with a “real-life farmer” and the story of how food is produced.

Since launching the partnership, the Rabo Community Fund’s collaboration with George the Farmer has seen more than 7,000 George the Farmer books donated to educational institutions and at events across the country, to reach more than 700,000 children around Australia.

Ms Ward said the George the Farmer book sets aim to increase awareness of how food and fibre is produced while also ‘sowing the seed’ for children to consider a career in agriculture in the future.

George the Farmer began as an interactive story app in 2015 and Ms Kain has since expanded the brand to include virtual reality experiences, music, performances and paddock-to-plate videos available on YouTube and ABC iView, alongside free, curriculum-aligned educational resources.

“Our lives are intrinsically linked to the land – whether you hail from a big city, a rural town or a remote slice of Australia – and the George the Farmer team passionately believe that knowledge is power,” Ms Kain said. “Our myriad of George the Farmer resources are helping to educate and inspire the next generation – the future leaders, big thinkers, innovators, makers, fixers, creatives, teachers, policy makers and farmers.

“More than 700,000 Aussie kids from the big smoke and the bush have connected to the earth, food and farm through the adventures of George the Farmer, his agronomist wife, Dr Ruby and their twin children, Lucy and Jack.”

Ms Kain said the George the Farmer team, located in regional South Australia, work to create content that is especially powerful for children who haven’t yet developed a love of reading or learning – using relatable topics and storytelling to spark curiosity and confidence.

“Each year, we receive photos of excited children participating in school Book Week parades dressed as George and Ruby Farmer. Our partnership with Rabobank aims to enhance agricultural literacy, with the goal of informing students and hopefully sparking their interest in future careers within the sector,” she said.

The competition for the book sets opens on Monday, May 11, and closes on Sunday, June 14, 2026.

Entries can be submitted via the Rabobank website, or the following link – George The Farmer Book Sets. Terms and conditions are available via the competition link.

Competition winners will be announced prior to Book Week to ensure books are received in time for the August event.

Rabo Community Fund

Ms Ward said the Book Week initiative was part of a long-term partnership between the Rabo Community Fund and George the Farmer.

With a dedicated pool of funding for grassroots initiatives, the Rabo Community Fund supports meaningful community projects.

Since its launch in 2021, the fund has invested more than $4 million in national and local initiatives to help address key agribusiness and community challenges.

“As a global cooperative, founded by farmers, Rabobank has a long history of community engagement and now, thanks to our Rabo Community Fund, we can make an even bigger impact in the communities where our clients live,” Ms Ward said.

“From supporting health checks in remote areas to providing agri-educational resources for schools and hosting succession planning and financial skills workshops for over 770 farmers, our impact has been far-reaching.”

For more information or to learn more about the Rabo Community Fund and Rabo Client Councils, visit – Rabo Community Fund | Rabobank Australia

 

This press release has also been published on VRITIMES