New South Wales - Kate Woodward

2005 New South Wales Runner-Up - Kate Woodward

Kate is the creator and owner/operator of Hunter Belle Cheese, a boutique cheese company based at Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley, which produces unique, high quality, hand made cheese from milk of Brown Swiss cows. 

Queensland - Delphine Bentley

2005 Queensland Runner-Up - Delphine Bentley

Corporate Social Responsibility in the International Beef Market

Delphine has recently been promoted to the position of General Manager of Corporate Development with The North Australian Pastoral Company (NAPCO)

Her vision for the Queensland and the Australian beef industry is an industry which is sustainable and viable, through beef producers being more responsive to consumer attitudes and demand, with improved public perception resulting in greater demand for product and in turn the further adoption of sustainable practices by producers. 

Delphine believes there is a growing interest both domestically and abroad with how meat is produced and how farmers and retailers meet the key principles of Corporate and Social responsibility. (CSR includes obligations to social welfare, economic development and environmental management)

Her project involved a study tour to the United Kingdom to determine how domestic and export markets are influenced by consumers preferences for beef produced following the principles of CSR. The Award Bursary contributed in part to her travel and accommodation expenses.

Delphine was overwhelmed by the level of general discussion relating to CSR in red meat industries, both in the UK and in Australia, with producers and retailers alike sensitive to the importance of projecting images of happy and healthy customers, animals and environments. 

All producers she met with, while driven by market specifications and commodity prices, recognize the strong link between sound operational practices and reducing production risks and costs. Those producers are employing the principles of CSR, either deliberately or through external drivers and are recognizing the benefits of these principles. 

She believes that while it is highly unlikely that consumers will pay premiums for ethically produced meat, they will increasingly expect the principles of CSR to be employed and upheld by producers. 

The major outcomes from Delphine’s study tour included her promotion to the position of NAPCO General Manager Corporate Development, the opportunity to present on a number of occasions and significantly as part of a Panel discussion on Corporate Responsibility as part of the 7th National Business Leaders Forum on Sustainable Development in Brisbane in May 2006 and to the Corporate Sustainability Executive Training Program at the University of Queensland Business School. Delphine has recently been awarded the Queensland DPI&F Scholarship for the Australian Institute of Company Directors New Directors Program. She has also recently accepted the position of Future farmers Network Coordinator/Acting Secretary. 

South Australia - Lyn Dohle

2005 South Australian Runner-Up - Lyn Dohle

Sustaining Rural Women

Lyn is a Senior Land Management Consultant with Rural Solutions SA and with her partner, own and operate a sheep and cropping operation on Kangaroo Island. 

She is committed to the empowerment of rural women and believes that rural women need to have the support and the skills to determine life’s priorities and to reach a balance between the many facets of their lives. 

Lyn’s proposed activity involved the establishment of a Kangaroo Island rural women’s group, to provide support to the group members to develop their own skills and projects. The Look@Wool concept was selected, the program allows participants to focus on the issues most relevant to making their own farming businesses more profitable and productive, as it provided the tools to enable women to learn in a group environment whilst giving them the skills and encouragement to develop their own projects. 

The group called www or ‘Women Working Well’ was established, comprising of ten women and meeting monthly. Individual projects chosen by the women included life balance, succession planning, financial management and communication and relationships. In addition to specific projects, the group also participated in several combined learning activities including rural office management and healthy living. 

Lyn believes the group has proven extremely successful, in improving the lives and skills of its members, with a number commenting that the course has been one of the most significant learning events of their lives. 12 months on and the group is still going strong with five new members about to join the group. 

On a personal level Lyn is in the process of undertaking two new training courses on personal growth and development, courses she believes she will benefit from through new skills and new networks. She also believes the Award has increased both her self confidence and her own awareness of the vital role women play in all levels of rural development.

2005 Northern Territory Runner-Up - Sarah Fea

Manage from the Ground Up

Sarah operates her own agricultural management consultancy based in Katherine.

Her vision is to find better management practices to combat major production issues such as disease, weed and insect pests and agriculture’s increasing reliance on fertilizers, through biological farming practices. 

Her objectives were to firstly obtain further practical knowledge and understanding of biological farming management systems, through attending a number of workshops and conferences. Secondly to gain the technical knowledge and accreditation required to analyse soil, without the support of southern based laboratories. And thirdly to utilize this acquired knowledge to assist community and industry development. 

Sarah in 2004 became an accredited Soil Food Web Advisor. In early 2005 Sarah attended a Compost and Compost Tea Making Course conducted by Elaine Ingham and a Light Microscope Course run by the Soil Food Web Institute laboratory in Lismore in NSW. She also attended in early 2005 the Compost Conference held in Brisbane and attended by international speakers from USA and Germany, who highlighted issues relevant to Australian agricultural production systems. In late 2005 Sarah also attended the ‘Benefits of Healthy Soil Systems Symposium’ in Bryon Bay in NSW. The symposium exposed her to a number of different tea brewing systems in action, to different techniques and choice of ‘foods’ and their biological results. 

At a personal level, attending these various activities has given Sarah greater confidence in her ability to assist producers, who are keen to follow the principles of biological farming and to explore potential local based product development initiatives. 

Sarah has also worked with a cross section of different commodities to establish base line data on the ‘soil health’ under their current production systems. From this base line data, suitable management plans and a monitoring system on future impacts can be developed. She is also working with a number of producer groups aiming to develop holistic grazing management plants and weed management plans, utilizing soil biology monitoring as an indicator of their impact on biodiversity. 

Sarah has also been involved in a school based project, developing a fact sheet on soil health and assisting in an interactive workshop with them at the Katherine Research Station. The workshop has proved very rewarding to students in highlighting how food can be produced while working with nature. 

She believes the major and ongoing impact of the project has been and will continue to be on her ability to impart her skills and knowledge to individuals and to rural organizations she is involved with.

Western Australia - Deborah Oberon

2005 Western Australian Runner-Up - Deborah Oberon

Certified Organic Skin Care

Deborah Oberon is Managing Director of Elemental Skin Care, one of only two certified organic skin care businesses in Australia. 

Deborah began the business ten years ago in response to a growing concern over the toxicity of ingredients commonly used in the majority of skin care products, selling at hugely inflated retail prices. 

Deborah lives in Denmark in Western Australia, a ‘sea-change/tree-change’ town,  comprising a population of middle class and educated people, but with limited viable employment options and a growing number of farms that are turning to organic farming methods. 

Her vision is to create a range of skin care products that are entirely natural and certified organic, based on ingredients sourced, where possible, from locally grown organic produce, and market these products at a price more reflective of the cost of producing them. In doing so she hoped to educate women as to the potential detrimental effects of products currently on the market, while creating real and interesting employment opportunities for local women and through her business new opportunities for organic farms in the region to expand and value add crops. 

Deborah has now achieved certification by the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA) for her full range of Elemental Skin Care products, the first cosmetic business in Australia to do so, and is in the process of establishing markets internationally and domestically for her products. 

Deborah used her Bursary to help finance the establishment of a web site for the business, which has helped in the marketing both domestically and internationally of her products. 

The Award has helped raised her profile and that of her business within her region, has helped her establish valuable support networks with individuals and organizations, and has led to numerous media opportunities that have resulted in increased sales.  In the two year period from 2004 to 2006 Elemental Skin Care has tripled its turnover and now employs seven people. 

Laura is immediate past President of Rural Youth Tasmania, one of the country’s most vibrant and active rural youth organizations. She has recently been elected to the Board of the national rural organization- Future Farmers Network. 

Her vision is to break down the stigma attached to agriculture and to encourage young people back into the rural sector, using the rural youth organization as the vehicle to effect the change. 

Her proposed activity involved travel to the United Kingdom and the United States to explore strategies employed by other rural youth based organizations to attract and retain young people in agriculture. 

While Laura was unable to complete her full activity, due to the smaller Runner Up Bursary and conflicts with other commitments, she was able to travel to the United Kingdom in March this year. She was able to meet and network with executive members of the National Federation of Young Farmer Clubs and exchange much relevant information. Information is also being collated and shared between exchangees from Australia, Canada and Wales. She believes that volunteer organizations all confront issues involving membership retention, funding, and promotional requirements, and while there is not one solution, the sharing of experience and applications will be of benefit to all. 

Laura is currently in the final stages of compiling a detailed report to Rural Youth Tasmania, that will be shared and will she believes have implications for other Australian Rural Youth and like minded organizations. 

Victoria - Elaine Paton

2005 Victorian Runner-Up - Elaine Paton

Step Out and Make a Difference: Basic Leadership and Management Training for Rural Women

Elaine has a strong commitment to rural women, having been a founding member of Australian Women in Agriculture, and having served terms on the Victorian RWN Reference Group along with three Women’s Advisory Boards to the Victorian Departments of Justice, Natural Resources and Management and Victorian Communities. 

Her vision is to see rural women stepping out and making a difference, “Getting Business Done Better and Right” by raising their basic business, management and leadership skills. 

Elaine used the Award Bursary to undertake the Alpine Valleys Community Leadership Program (AVCLP) a 12 month course of structured activities, providing for extensive skills development and networking opportunities with a diverse group of leaders from her region. Topics covered by the program included regional development, the environment, local government, arts and culture, youth, media and public speaking. 

Elaine is now in the process of developing the “Stepping Out and Make a Difference” manual, to compliment the three day course, that will be launched on World Rural Women’s Day-15th October 2006. The program will include a comprehensive list of topics from networking, self confidence and self care, personal skills audit, public speaking and working with the media, political lobbying and the machinery of government and NGO’s, communication and conflict resolution, working in community or a family business and managing the business and organization. 

The program Elaine proposes will be made available to Community Education Centres and Neighbourhood Houses, to be delivered as a week-by-week or residential course, by professionals or by community tutors. 

Elaine hopes the program will provide a format for educating and training women to be confident, well informed and capable partners and leaders, in their family businesses, their industries and communities, and in effect providing for women to become role models and trainers in businesses and community groups.