It’s almost 10 years since I stood up and said I want to be part of the team that drives change for agriculture and I must admit I have been overwhelmed by the people who have nurtured and inspired me as part of my journey.
It’s never too late to be who you could have been. – It’s a matter of switching gears, never looking back, and BECOMING the person today that you always knew you were capable of being. Entertain every thought, say every word, and make every decision from their point of view.
What’s even better is the people who were determined to drag me down form part of a small group who just don’t matter anymore.
Now it’s my chance to give back and support the next generation of people who want to engage as agents of change in their world and make a difference and it’s quite exciting the number of pathways and programs available in agriculture to help nurture them or provide a vehicle to give them the profile to attract and learn from likeminded spirits.
Closing shortly are applications for the Australian Rural Leadership program and the NAB Agribusiness Rising Beef Champion Initiative
The Australian Rural Leadership program is a personal and professional growth training and development program of which part of the process is often called “transformative learning”, which is changing the way that you look at things, including yourself. It also has a reputation (and please correct me if I am wrong) of increasing the divorce rate as participants become aware that successful people have partners who either support them or share their vision or are divorced.
The program is viewed as the elite amongst rural leadership programs and many of the alumni are often almost evangelistic in encouraging others to join their journey.
For me the Kimberley experience and the trip to India are my excuse for not applying but I certainly admire and am extremely happy to support applications from young people that are gutsy enough to take them both on 
The Rising Beef Champion Initiative commenced in 2010. The aim of the initiative is to inspire, empower and support young people, who are passionate about the Australian beef industry and to provide them with an opportunity to be directly involved. 2011 Young Farming Champion Alison McIntosh was the inaugural winner
There is no doubt that if agriculture is going to attract forward and future thinking young people who have the potential to grasp the issues, complexities and range of perspectives across the supply chain as well as understand the importance of the big picture and its broader ramifications and implications we must identify those people, engage them, invest in and nurture them
Critically (and sadly where we too often fall down) is agriculture needs to be proactive in determining the pathways and support structures required to retain these young fabulous people
