Queensland cattle marketer Elisha Parker has been named as the 2020 NAB Agribusiness Cattle Council Rising Champion.
The presentation was made at a dinner in Canberra which also marked the 10th anniversary of the Rising Champion initiative.
Ms Parker is a co-founder and director of Cattlesales Pty Ltd.
Based in her home town of Clermont, the business is a national, online cattle sales platform that provides marketing tools and technology to livestock agents, producers and buyers.
"We cover cattle sold through all sale points, from paddock through to saleyards and AuctionsPlus," she said.
"For buyers we have an alert system that notifies buyers when cattle that match their specifications are listed online.
"Although there's heaps of tools to sell cattle, there was nowhere to advertise cattle - to say there were cattle coming up.
"Now people can go to an online platform and see cattle being sold by any sale point and find what they are looking for."
Cattle Council President Tony Hegarty congratulated Ms Parker on the award.
"Elisha has the attitude, motivation and leadership skills that will position our industry well into the future and I warmly congratulate her on the achievement," Mr Hegarty said.
Ms Parker's mum, Vicki Seekamp, was watching as the award was presented and described it as a proud moment.
"Elisha has been a high achiever since high school," she said.
"She's always been looking for something different and how to bring it to the market."
Ms Parker is also a founder and director of the agricultural advocacy group, QLD Food Future Inc., which works to educate consumers and change common misconceptions about the agriculture industry.
As well as Elisha Parker the 2020 finalists were;
- John Cunnington, Perth, Western Australia
- Bianca Tarrant, Casino, New South Wales
- Chelsea Rayner, Sheffield, Tasmania
- Elle Moyle, Hamilton, Victoria
- Grayson Webster, Darwin, Northern Territory
- Emily Buddle, Eudunda, South Australia
NAB Agribusiness Customer Executive Neil Findlay said the calibre of candidates in the 2019 program was high and congratulated all finalists on their participation.
"This year's cohort of finalists was very strong, and it's exciting to see such depth of talent amongst the next generation of beef industry leaders," Mr Findlay said.
"Investment in our future leaders is as critical to the strength and sustainability of the beef industry as anything else, and that's why hands-on, in depth leadership programs like Rising Champions are so important.
"I congratulate Elisha on the award and look forward to seeing the outstanding contribution she goes onto make as the 2020 NAB Agribusiness Rising Champion."
The Cattle Council and NAB Agribusiness also thanked outgoing 2019 Rising Champion, Emily Pullen, on her contribution over the past 12 months.
"Emily has been an exceptional role model for other young members of the beef industry, and we congratulate her on all she has achieved over the past year," Mr Findlay said.
The program is supported by gold sponsor NAB Agribusiness, silver sponsor McDonalds and media sponsor Australian Community Media as well as Cattle Council's state farming organisations members.