The voice of the future.

Emma was working as a stationhand in the Kimberley and Pilbara, WA where she created her Instagram account @Life_On_A_Station which now has over 25.9k followers. This public exposure has led to an ABC InvisFarmer blog, Graziher, Rural Weekly articles, a Landline feature, speaking engagements as well as learning and leadership opportunities. Emma studies a Bachelor of Sustainable Agriculture at the University of Queensland and is passionate about the sustainable intensification of the northern beef industry and helping to adopt more sustainable practices.

Sam can be described as an agricultural enthusiast and young industry trailblazer who has one aim – to showcase where Australian food and fibre comes from, who makes it and how it’s made. He has a strong rural background having grown up west of Forbes NSW and is passionate about being the link between producer and consumer, city and bush. Sam does his best to promote Australia’s agricultural industry and its primary producers to the country’s metropolitan based population, and does this as a Co-founder of the social media organisation and movement
#ThankAFarmerForYourNextMeal.

Callan grew up 100km NW of Longreach on a cattle station and undertook a gap-year working on a wheat, chickpea, oat and sorghum farm. In 2016, Callan participated in the ABC’s annual regional youth project Heywire where he created a rural and regional tourism initiative called BackToBush.
In 2016 Callan was a member of the Queensland Youth Parliament and a executive mentor in 2017. Callan was also selected to be part of AgForce’s Innovation and Engagement Committee in 2018 and will be a Heywire mentor for 2019.

Genevieve is the Founder of PICMI, a cloud based software that simplifies the employment process and makes the task of finding and hiring seasonal staff easy. The idea of the business came about after her father was in a tractor accident three years ago and she had to take leave and step up and run her family kiwifruit orchard in New Zealand. She gained first hand experience in the difficulties growers and farmers face when trying to find, process and on-board seasonal staff. There had to be a better way and Genevieve decided to do something about it.

George grew up on a tea-tree plantation in northern NSW, and from a young age has also spent a large amount of time travelling and working in Africa, where he discovered the importance of sustainable agricultural development. On his parents’ safari lodge and farm in Kenya, George has established ‘Ololo Farm’, which trains and educates Kenya’s youth in organic and regenerative farming principles. He is now studying a Masters in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security at the Royal Agricultural University in the UK and aims to establish a career, which will help Australian agriculture, innovate and find solutions towards more regenerative food and fibre production.

Jordy enjoys working with passionate people to solve problems and surrounding himself with people that are willing to challenge the status quo, see a vision, believe in it, and make it happen.

Jordy grew up on a farm, studied Agricultural Science, returned home to the farm, then joined rapid commercialisation company Availer, which led him into his current role as Chief Executive Officer at MEQ Probe. He has also travelled to South America and Africa to learn about their Agricultural systems.

Rayali has a passion to empower and reignite the livelihood of Australia’s regional communities is threefold. By firstly communicating the story of agriculture to those outside of the industry, secondly to attract young people to pursue a career in agriculture and finally, to grow Australia’s brand internationally.

Humanitarian work is a big part of her personal philosophy and she has immersed herself in volunteering, leadership and community engagement. Rayali is a mentor to students, works with governments in developing countries to provide funding for farmers and delivers speeches at educational institutions to empower.

Angela is a passionate advocate for the Asia-Pacific agrifood tech sector and is optimistic about the future of the industry. She is currently studying a Bachelor of Agricultural Business Management at Charles Sturt University via distance education whilst also working on her family beef cattle property and at the local Landmark office in the Southern Highlands of NSW. Angela believes there is a lack of knowledge about farming and farming practices and is enthusiastic about educating the public. She aims to bridge the knowledge gap between producers and consumers.

Matthew studied agriculture, biology and earth and environmental science.
Through teaching staff, Matthew catalysed a desire to learn more about the industry, recognising that agriculture ventured far beyond the farm gate, often ending at the doorstep of consumers.

Drawing upon past experiences Matthew formed the opinion that innovation across food and fibre supply chains is a gateway to food security solutions. Now studying a Bachelor of Food and Agribusiness at Sydney University Matthew aims to curiously venture beyond the syllabus subjecting himself to new ideas and perspectives to apply to the burgeoning food crisis.

Dylan Bellchambers is an agribusiness student at the University of Tasmania who is passionate about all things agriculture, technology and youth. Dylan dynamically involves himself with organisations and groups that align to promoting the endless opportunities agriculture offers to youth. By doing so he aims to encourage youth to invest a career in agriculture to help grow agricultural communities, rural economies and ultimately ensure global food security.

Caitlin has completed a PhD on farmer mental health, specifically exploring the factors that impact farmer mental health help-seeking. Using the knowledge she has gained through her research, Caitlin is passionate about promoting mental health and the well-being of our primary producers. Caitlin wears many hats; she works as a learning adviser at the University of Queensland, is a committee member of HALT (Hope Assistance Local Tradies) - a mental health awareness and suicide prevention not-for-profit, and also volunteers with Agforce, where she is assisting to create their workplace health and safety policy.

Kate Taylor is an innovation and partnerships expert leading a multidisciplinary research cluster called “Bioeconomy for Society” through the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture at the University of Tasmania.

Kate connects world-class research with like-minded organisations to deliver high-quality products underpinned by sustainable practices and strong social licence.

Kate is a Registered Technology Transfer Professional and holds a Bachelor of Biotechnology from the University of Queensland. She serves on the board of UTAS Nexus Aquasciences, currently commercialising the world’s first closed-loop lobster aquaculture system and has formerly served on the board of Startup Tasmania.

Born and bred on a cattle station near Richmond in north-western Queensland, George has spent most of his life living and working in agriculture across multiple industries from large-scale breeding operations in the Gulf, to irrigated cotton and broad-acre farming on the Western Darling Downs. Recently moving into a consultancy
role with RCS Australia, George now works alongside individuals, families, corporates and government to deliver holistically integrated education, training and advisory services to the agricultural industry. Alongside RCS, his
main focus is to develop resilient, regenerative and profitable farming businesses that ensure rural communities thrive socially, financially and ecologically.

Nga is a graduating year 12 student, who has conducted several independent research projects engineering closed-loop systems, which target the agricultural industry’s environmental pollution.

Her most recent project developed a waste-treating-waste approach, in which she recycled agricultural by products such as corncob into a multipurpose biochar charcoal. Nga has maximised biochar’s effectiveness in filtering livestock wastewater to meet Australian effluent guidelines, before reusing it as crop fertiliser.

This model has received national and international recognition, winning first place for Investigations at the 2018 BHP National Science and Engineering awards, and the 2018 Australian Junior Water Prize.

Maddison is a passionate horticultural scientist based in Darwin, Northern Territory. She combines her background of environmental science and sustainable agriculture to study the effects of supply chain processes on post-harvest mango quality and the dependency of mango flowering on temperature. She is currently focused on developing knowledge in these key areas for new mango varieties and identifying risks to mango production under future climate conditions. She is a passionate advocate for sustainable agricultural practices that empower communities, improve nutritional diversity and preserve natural resources.

James is currently studying economics at Murdoch University after completing a Bachelor of Science majoring in agriculture at the University of Western Australia.
James has been awarded the New Colombo Scholarship to study agribusiness in Vietnam in 2017 as well as the Agribusiness Connect Scholarship to study crop physiology in Argentina earlier in 2018. James was named a Crawford Conference scholar and was also named as an inaugural David Bedbrook Bursary winne. As of December 2018, James will commence full-time employment with Elders as a graduate agronomist.