Rural women making their mark in 2020

Published Sunday, 23 February, 2020 at 04:18 PM

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries
The Honourable Mark Furner

Four Queensland women with a common passion for agriculture will be vying for the coveted top spot in this year’s AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award.

Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said the Rural Women’s Award acknowledged the positive and innovative contributions of women across the agriculture industry.

The Queensland finalists are:

  • Kerrie Sagnol- Kerrie wants to develop a foundational level online course, designed as a confidence-building entry point into understanding and reviving soil. She also wants to research how farmers overseas are implementing practices on-ground, sharing that information directly to clients and via freely accessible online case studies.
  • Samantha Meurant- Samantha is the founder of the Rural Compass podcast. She wants to further develop a nationwide online directory, pointing people in the direction of purchasing and hiring from all rural, regional and remote businesses.
  • Elisha Parker- Elisha is a co-founder of Cattlesales.com.au. If she wins, she plans to extend the capabilities of the online Cattlesales marketing and advertising platform to offer interactive catalogue hosting for stud stock bull, female and special sales and auctions, aimed at benefiting and boosting the Australian cattle industry nationwide 
  • Kay Tommerup- Kay is a dairy farmer who is passionate about reconnecting consumers with where their food comes from and how their purchasing choices make a real difference to everyone. Her vision is to underscore rural economies with sustainable practice, products and marketing, ensuring farmers can be paid fairly through authentic connections and consumer support.

Mr Furner congratulated the finalists and praised their aspirations to improve Queensland’s agriculture industry. 

“On behalf of the Queensland Government, I thank Kerrie, Samantha, Elisha and Kay for their leadership and outstanding commitment to Queensland agriculture and rural and regional communities,” he said.

The Queensland winner will be announced at a Brisbane award ceremony on 25 March 2020 and will receive a $10,000 Westpac bursary and networking and professional development opportunities to assist in implementing their project. 

All finalists will join the prestigious AgriFutures alumni of rural woman who are making a difference to Australian agriculture.

The annual AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award is open to all women working in agribusiness and rural and regional communities and aims to provide a platform to support and inspire the next generation of female leaders in agriculture.

The Award is supported by the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and sponsored by Westpac. ABC Radio, Australian Community Media and RM Williams Outback Magazine are Award media partners.

ENDS

Media contact:          Ron Goodman            0427 781 920