RIVERINA Local Land Services and Murray Darling Basin Authority River of Life have awarded three young people in agriculture scholarships to participate in the Actions4Agriculture leadership program.
Katharine Charles, Kate Webster and Sam O'Rafferty will participate in the two year Cultivate - Growing Young Leaders program to promote their passions for agriculture and become role models for others looking to break into the industry.
For Katharine Charles her way into agriculture was through school, having not come off a farm herself, and said she hoped to encourage other young people to enter the industry.
"I want to prove to the world that you don't need to have a farming background to make a mark in the agricultural industry; just a strong passion and a hunger to leave this world a better place than you found it," she said.
Kate Webster is using her experiences being on the meat judging team at Charles Sturt University and in the meat processing industry to help teach the next generation about where products comes from.
Ms Webster has published a children's book 'What is Meat' which explains the steps from producer to consumer and she is aiming to write three more books on wool, eggs and milk.
Working with teachers to create activity packs for classrooms and for the National Meat Industry Training and Advisory Council Ms Webster said she wanted to inspire others by showing the different paths available in the agriculture industry.
"It is up to us as the new generation to paint agriculture in a positive light and spark the interest we have all found on our own paths into the wider community and in particular drive the generations coming up behind us to seek out their own passions in agriculture," she said.
Sam O'Rafferty said the program would help him to promote agriculture and help solve issues facing farmers including water and labour shortages.
"Agriculture is an extremely rewarding industry to be a part of and I look forward to communicating this message far and wide to attract the best and brightest people; people who will help solve the big challenges in front of us," he said.
"My aim is to continually improve water use efficiency and productivity on farm and help producers adapt to the variability in the climate."
Alexandra Bernard
Journalist based in Wagga Wagga covering all things agriculture in southern NSW.
Journalist based in Wagga Wagga covering all things agriculture in southern NSW.
