
Headline Act
What better way to headline the September Muster (when many of us are still shivering through the tail of winter) than to check in with Bryan Van Wyk as he sends his prawn fleet into warm northern waters. Bryan is a wonderful example of respecting and showcasing those we work with in fishing and agriculture.
“We currently have our fleet of 11 prawn trawlers dispersed across northern Australia over productive “prawn paddocks” ready to deploy their nets for the 2022 tiger prawn season. An incredible amount of behind-the-scenes work goes into getting a fleet like this to sea. I’m talking about a huge collaborative effort from a range of highly skilled contractors, engineers, surveyors, fleet and engineering managers, various suppliers and of course, our crews. We have 60 of the most extraordinary, dedicated, and strongest men and women from all around the world working together to produce some of the highest quality seafood Australia has to offer.
This is the tiger prawn season. Three months at sea catching what many consider to be one of the largest, most premium, and delicious wild caught prawns in the world. At the top of that list sits Skull Island prawns. Skull Island tiger prawns are renowned for their beautiful glossy red colours, versatility in high end dining rooms and sustainability. Primarily sold to Japan, it can fetch a hefty price of up to $100 per kilo retail, but Skull Island prawns are also making their presence felt in Australian domestic markets with many of the country’s best chefs instantly falling in love with the product after cooking with them. Today we raise a glass, salute the people at sea and wish them all a safe and productive 2022 Skull Island season.”
Check out this video starring Bryan talking about the career he loves.
The Team
Despite COVID complications still impacting The Archibull Prize and Kreative Koalas, our YFC are doing their part to bring agriculture into the classrooms. Emily May made her live radio debut with ABC Illawarra talking about the successful Paddock Pen Pals program.
“I am really passionate about this program, which connects school students in urban areas with upcoming young rural leaders, allowing them to learn about the wonderful world of agriculture.” Well done, Emily.
In the Field
Also on the ABC was Danielle Fordham, alumni officer at Tocal College, speaking with Bridget Murphy from ABC Newcastle in the lead up to the celebration of 50 years of female students at the college.
“Representing the Tocal College Alumni is deep passion of mine, as an ex-student and now staff member. I have been given the tremendous opportunity to connect and promote our fantastic community. This significant milestone is not just a special occasion for the College, but most importantly a significant milestone for ‘Women in Ag’. As a proud woman in ag, I am continually inspired by the legacies of the women who have pathed the way before me and I hope to continue their ambition in breaking barriers and promoting diversity in our community.”

Literally in the field is Lachlan White who is on the tractor preparing summer feed paddocks for his beef cattle in the Hunter. Having learnt best practice pasture management from dairy farmer Butch Smith, Lachlan, who is now a farm manager with a large pastoral company, has all the skills and resources to prepare and sow 500ha of summer millet/brassica. His steers will enjoy the summer feed, alongside paddocks of existing kikuyu.
Last week Young Farming Champion and agronomist Sam O’Rafferty hosted a group of growers and fellow work colleagues to Tasmania for a cropping tour. They visited several farms in the Midlands and North West Coast regions.
It was fantastic to see many different agricultural production systems and see some of the amazing crop yields that are being achieved.

Out of the Field
Out of the field it is show season with many of our YFC involved.
NSW Rural Achiever state finalist, Lucy Collingridge attended the 2022 Narromine Young Woman competition in July. Lucy joined NSW Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Western NSW Dugald Saunders, and 2022 The Land Sydney Royal AgShows NSW Young Woman winner Molly Wright in judging the 2022 competition. Lucy was impressed with the passion and dedication the entrants demonstrated for agriculture and their rural communities:
“all of the entrants are outstanding young women and should be so proud of their contribution to their rural communities and ag industries. It’s opportunities like the Young Woman (formally Showgirl) competition that will continue to develop women across rural NSW who are our future leaders and role models for the next generation”

Katherine Bain, representing Beaufort Show, is one of 11 finalists in the Victorian Rural Ambassador awards for 2022. Katherine is representing young people in wool. The winner will be announced at the end of September.

Continuing her duties as the 2022 National Rural Ambassador, Dione Howard, attended the Brisbane EKKA in August.
“It was an honour to judge the Qld Rural Ambassador Award and meet ten incredible young people promoting shows, agriculture and rural life. The night show at the EKKA, a tour through Qld Parliament House and an agricultural tour coordinated by AgForce Qld were highlights of a jam-packed few days.”

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Conferences are always a good place for our YFC to meet up and often present to industry.
Katherine Bain teamed up with Katie Barnett in September when they attended the SALRC Livestock 2022 conference.
“It was an exciting two days as we listened to a range of speakers talk about the potential future of livestock from a social and technological standpoint,” Katherine says. “We also got to put our thinking hats on and work through a future scenario about what farms could look like in 15 years. My table was looking at the potential of using robotics on farm, and what the opportunities and restraints of this might be. We got to meet a wide range of people in the livestock industry, from producers to researchers. I would like to thank AWI for sponsoring me to go to this wonderful event.”

Emily May was attended the 2022 Cotton Conference on the Gold Coast in August and was particularly impressed with the session on reversing the rural brain, which included insights on how to attract city kids to agriculture from friend of the YFC Scott Graham. Presenting at the conference were YFCs Liz Lobsey (discussing raingrown cotton) and Connie Mort (discussing new herbicides) while Emma Ayliffe was presented with the ADAMA Chris Lehmann Trust ‘Young Cotton Achiever of the Year’.
Out of the field our YFC are also stepping up to take on industry and media roles.
Florance McGufficke is revelling in her new role with the Vincent Fairfax Foundation as part of the inaugural VFFF Youth Advisory Group.
“I am very grateful for this opportunity and honoured to have been selected to be a member of this amazing group and work with such an influential and passionate organisation. ‘Backing young people’ is where it needs to start and I believe this initiative is going to create numerous opportunities. I am excited to see where this journey will take me and what I can give back to the experience. Thanks to Lynne for sharing and helping me to ‘go for it’.”

Young Farming Champion and NSW Rural Ambassador Jess Fearnley has also been busy. As part of her position on the Researchers in Agriculture for International Development (RAID) she co-hosted a scholars day before the Annual Crawford Conference.

It was rewarding to put my presentation skills and facilitation skills to the test that I learnt with YFC.
As part of the Rural Achiever program we also had the opportunity to head to visit the Royal Adelaide Show on an exchange program to see the behind the scenes of the show!

Following in the footsteps of YFC Dione Howard and Sam Wan before her, Emma Turner has been announced as the 2022 WoolProducers Youth Ambassador. As part of the “Raising the Bar” program Emma will gain insights into policy development and board operations at WoolProducers, the national advocacy body for Australian wool growers. Emma currently works as the District Wool Manager for Elders in Mildura.

Jo Newton has been invited to contribute a regular column for Australian Community Media.
“I’m excited by the opportunity to be a regular contributor for Australian Community Media’s publications. It’s important the voices and images we see in media reflect the diversity of people working across the agricultural sector. Not only is it important to have different perspectives represented in media, but also to help young people identify role models and be able to visualise themselves working in food and fibre production.”

Catch Jo’s new column on FarmOnline.
Prime Cuts
The FarmOnline column is a continuation of Jo’s advocacy work. In her role as a research geneticist she travelled to Rotterdam in The Netherlands to attend the World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production in July where she co-chaired a session on “Young Scientist Career Development” alongside Dr Marta Godia, Dr Hugo Toledo and Dr Biaty Raymond.
“It was an honour to co-chair the first Young Scientists Session, a valuable and much needed addition to the conference agenda. Our panellists all spoke incredibly honestly and openly about their career journeys including tackling tough topics like mental health and imposter syndrome, which was very inspiring for all in attendance.”
Photo credit European Forum of Farm Animal Breeders/Farm Animal Breeding and Reproduction Technology Platform
Lifetime Highlights
Marlee Langfield became Marlee Gallagher in late August when she and Andrew married at The Rustic Maze and Country Garden near Cowra. Check out this beautiful shot starring their beloved dog, Ellie. Congratulations to you both Marlee and Andrew.

Photo credit to Anne Cooper Photography
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