Candice Cordy is a familiar face at many wool industry events, and the brains behind a lot of them too.
And the Landmark Bendigo wool account manager has been recognised for her contributions, being announced as a 2018 Wool Broker of the Year finalist.
Ms Cordy grew up on a small Merino property just south of Bendigo, and said she always enjoyed helping out on the farm when she could.
But this was mostly on weekends and holidays, as her main focus was studying a Bachelor of Agriculture at The University of Melbourne’s Dookie campus.
Straight after completing her studies, she was selected to be a part of Landmark’s graduate program, which offered her the chance to work in multiple sectors of the industry.
“It gave you a brief overview of merchandise, agronomy, livestock and wool, and was a good opportunity to network, and get to know different people from all parts of the industry,” she said.
At the end of the program, Ms Cordy was offered a full-time role in livestock sales processing at Landmark’s Bendigo branch.
She said while her passion was wool, this was a good chance to gain a broader range of hands-on skills.
In unfortunate circumstances, one of Bendigo’s wool account managers passed away, so Ms Cordy took on their client base, changing her role within the company.
Her role entailed, and still does, working with clients and assisting with sheep and ram selection, as well as wool preparation and marketing advice.
She is often seen at on-property ram sales around the state, and even big multi-vendor sales like the Australian Sheep and Wool Show (ASWS) in Bendigo, and Sheepvention in Hamilton, assisting clients with their purchases.
Ms Cordy also began working more closely with industry-renowned Athol Frederick, who in the last couple of years retired, and passed on more responsibilities and clients to the up and coming wool broker.
One of those being the National Fleece Competition, which Ms Cordy has just ticked off being the convenor of for the second year, at the ASWS.
“It’s fantastic to see the best fleeces in the country competing against each other in such a measured way,” she said.
“I really enjoy the opportunity of being able to work with different people that I wouldn’t usually come in contact with, and it’s really satisfying working with the Australian Sheep Breeders Association (ASBA) and Australian Wool Testing Authority (AWTA) to put together our part of the show at Bendigo.”
Ms Cordy said it is incredibly humbling to be selected as a Wool Broker of the Year finalist, particularly given the calibre of the young brokers in the industry at the moment.
“I think it’s a fantastic initiative to promote wool broking as a potential career path,” she said.
She said growing up on a sheep farm was what triggered her passion for the wool industry, and she plans to be in it for a long time to come.
“Wool is a fantastic product, with so many great qualities, I’m very optimistic about the future of the industry,” she said.
“Obviously seasonal conditions are our biggest challenge, but I think growers are incredibly adaptive and resilient, so I see a bright future ahead.”
