As part of an industry that contributes nearly 30% of the total gross value of agricultural production in Australia, grain producers are nothing if not innovative and demand driven, often in the face of challenging markets and trying weather.
For the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), these factors make it vitally important to ensure industry is well connected by leaders willing to make the most of the opportunities in front of them, and work to overcome the challenges in their way.
For 25 years, the GRDC has made an annual investment by sponsoring a participant scholarship/s for an industry achiever to take part in Australia’s longest and most in-depth experiential leadership program offered by the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.
For Victorian producers and Australian Rural Leadership Program (ARLP) graduates Susan Findlay Tickner, Ashley Fraser, and David Jockinke, their GRDC sponsored places to complete the program has delivered significant collective gain for their industry and own regional communities, but also for their own individual growth on farm and at home.
And despite completing the program in separate cohorts, each say they graduated with the confidence and skills to take on leadership positions within the grain industry – including roles with the GRDC and the Victorian Farmers Federation – and gave them the capacity to encourage others to develop their own leadership potential to take on roles that foster stronger communities and sustainable agriculture.
Read Susan, Ashley and David’s impact story here.
