Art4Agriculture is proud to name Sally Poole, Alexandria Galea, and Anika Molesworth as youth ambassadors of Australian agriculture in the form of the 2018 Cotton Young Farming Champions (YFC).
Growing up in Sydney but introduced to agriculture through farming relatives Sally Poole explored many agricultural avenues before settling on cotton as a career and she now works as an agronomist for Landmark in Chinchilla, Queensland. She is excited about beginning her YFC journey and the opportunities it will open for the cotton sector to build relationships with the community. “Positive engagement with the community is critical to ensure the long term social licence of the all agricultural industries,” she says, “and I also believe it is important to ensure the best and brightest minds are working towards improving and securing the productivity and sustainability of agriculture for future generations to come.”
As a sales agronomist with Cotton Growers Services in Emerald Queensland, Alexandria Galea combines a love of agriculture and teaching and looks forward to embracing this further as part of the YFC. “I would like to create awareness of how cropping is relevant to everyone’s daily routine and how important it is to support our Australian primary industries,” she says. “Creating awareness would enable students to be thinking of their personal connection to the land even though it is not necessarily in their back yard.”
Anika Molesworth is no stranger to the YFC having first joined the program in 2014 representing lamb. Now studying a PhD including running cotton trials in the Riverina, Anika is passionate about expanding her world-view of agriculture and how it will be affected by a changing climate. “As a cotton YFC I would like people in the wider community to realise the great importance of a vibrant and resilient rural Australia to the overall health and strength of our nation,” she says. “I would like everyone to share the pride I feel for Australian farmers, who are such a hardworking, forward-thinking, resourceful group within our society.”
Art4Agriculture National Director Lynne Strong is pleased to have such an exceptional new crop of Young Farming Champions. “It cannot be overestimated how important it is to have young people like Anika, Sally and Alexandria willing to step up and be trained to deliver the message, in a cohesive and coordinated way, that agriculture is a modern and evolving industry with career pathways that can provide a sense of achievement and make a positive impact on the world. I congratulate them on their courage and vision.”
All Young Farming Champions attend a series of workshops to teach the skills and knowledge to share agriculture’s story, and go into schools with The Archibull Prize to engage with students and encourage the next generation of agriculturists.
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