Emma Ayliffe 2020/2021 Australian Young Farmer of the Year with her partner Craig Newham
Headline Act
Does it get any better than this? Our very own Emma Ayliffe has been announced as the 2021 Young Farmer of the Year!! Read all about it here.
One of the reasons Em won this prestigious award is that she is not afraid to advocate for agriculture on every stage. As an example, this month she also spoke with educators at a Cotton Australia Teach the Teacher event and waded into the fray as a speaker at the River Reflections conference for the Murray Darling Basin Authority.
We are so very excited for, and proud of, you Em – congratulations.
Listen to Emma on The Country Hour here
In The Field
Research has been the key word for our YFC in the field this month. Tegan Nock is exploring the ways fungi may be able to help with climate change (read about this exciting work in this ABC report) while Veronika Vicic, a PhD candidate at Charles Sturt University, is asking your opinion on euthanasia of non-replacement male calves and producer wellbeing in Australian dairy systems. Want to contribute? Complete her online survey here.
Veronika’s research work is one of the reasons she was awarded her YFC scholarship, sponsored by Corteva. She, and fellow recipients Emily May, Steph Tabone and Connie Mort, were recently featured in Rural Business magazine. See the Corteva write-up here.
Steph and Connie put their newly acquired YFC skills to the test at a Corteva birthday breakfast recently where they both spoke. It’s a great example of partners allowing our YFC to practice in safe places; just as the Riverina LLS does for Dylan Male. Read more here. Steph has also been attending trade days speaking with farmers and was part of The GreenCollar Think Tank, discussing ideas for dealing with climate change, environmental markets, and energy efficiency. What a month Steph! But wait – there’s more ……
Steph and Emily attended a field trial walk through at Corteva’s Breeza research station on June 2, which was attended by a diverse range of agronomists from across NSW and QLD. Here are the girls in action.
Emily continues to thrive in her position of graduate agronomist with Elders, having almost completed her first 6-month rotation in Forbes. In August she will transfer to Griffith where she will focus on horticultural production.
“I am super keen to begin the second transfer because not many places within the country offer such a range of cropping systems in as geographically close an area as that around Griffith.”
Out of the Field
While research and trade networking were the buzz words in the field, out of the field it was all about conferences and awards and spreading the YFC love.
Meg Rice, Adele Smith, Dione Howard, Dee George and Martin Murray attended the second annual Young Farmer Business Conference in Dubbo on May 28 where their takeaways were the importance of networking, thinking outside the box for raising capital, and not being afraid to take the first step and ask the important questions. Thanks for sharing Champs.
Young Farming Champions Dione Howard, Meg Rice and Adele Smith
Bryan Van Wyk was on the other side of the conference table when he presented to QLD Marine Teachers to promote the stewardship of the ocean through education and collaboration. Watch a snap-shot of his presentation here or view his informative slides here.
Dylan Male shared his YFC experiences with the CWA Vic Virtual Branch and gave insights into how kangaroo grass can be used for food. Wouldn’t it have been amazing to hear both of these talks!
Tayla Field, too, was presenting when she spoke in front of 1000 people at the 2021 Hort Connections Gala Dinner. Watch her glamming it up in pink here. Tayla was also part of our awards round-up this month when she was nominated for the Boomaroo Nurseries Women in Horticulture Award at the same conference.
Olivia Borden was awarded the Ausindustry Young Farmers Award for Business Excellence and Innovation at the Food Futures Conference on the 19th of May. The award recognises and promotes innovative new business practices and raises the importance of value adding by farmers, potentially via traceability systems, logistics improvements or promotional campaigns in the Northern Territory. Congrats Olivia.
And Emma Ayliffe had to share the limelight this month when both she and James Kanaley were recognised as finalists in the Australian Cotton Industry Awards. Both were nominated for the ADAMA Chris Lehmann Trust Young Cotton Achiever. Good luck team.
Sharing the love this month was Tim Eyes who spoke about his experiences with the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation’s 2020 TRAIL program. Also sharing the love were Katherine Bain, Jo Newton, Dylan Male and Nicole McDonald who dined (pre-lockdown) in Melbourne in May. They are all on notice for not providing a photo for the Muster but are forgiven because it was this event that facilitated Dylan speaking with the CWA!
Prime Cuts
Prime Cuts celebrates our YFC as they are recognised for their work, kick their goals and give back to our community.
Recognition came this month when The Land newspaper ran a feature on upcoming farmers under 35 – the ones to watch – and several of our YFC featured: Emma Turner, Jess Fearnley, Tim Eyes and Martin Murray.
Kicking her goals was Jo Newton who was accepted into the Australian Rural Leadership Program to be held in the Kimberley in July.
“Participating in this course has been a goal of mine for quite some time. More than 5 years after I first applied, 3 applications and 2 interviews later I’ve achieved a long-held goal. Every year I didn’t get in I went away, debriefed with my mentors, sought feedback and worked out what I would do differently next time. Persistence pays off. To all of you brave & courageous individuals who put yourselves forward for awards and scholarships, if at first you don’t succeed, please regroup, reassess and try again!”
We sincerely hope the latest COVID restrictions don’t impact your Kimberley journey Jo.
And perhaps the greatest achievement an organisation such as Picture You in Agriculture, who trains the next agricultural leaders, can have is for one of its own to return to run workshops for the next generation. So, it gives us a great thrill to announce that Anika Molesworth will be running a “personal brand” workshop, especially for YFC. Anika will share her secrets on personal branding – why it is important, how it can help your career and how you can use it to influence how people think and act. “When the people we train start running the workshops my heart sings,” says Lynne Strong. Stay tuned for more details.
Lifetime Achievements
“31.5.21 The Flinders Ranges will always hold a special place in my heart, as will Joe Smart who surprised me with a beautiful ring and asked me to marry him 💍❤”
We can only assume you said yes Chloe Dutschke!
We believe leaders are made not born – Our Young Farming Champions are products of their environments, of the people surrounding them, nurturing them, and INVESTING IN THEM.
Thanks you to our supporting partners for investing in future