Seven state and territory winners of the 2021 Cattle Council of Australia and National Australia Bank Agribusiness Rising Champion Initiative have been announced.
The program is designed to foster the leadership and business skills of emerging beef industry leaders aged between 21-40 across Australia.
Organisers said the program would offer "unrivaled" opportunities for winners up-skill their personal development and present opportunities to network with industry leaders and government representatives.
"Year in and year out, the Rising Champions Initiative attracts some of the best and brightest young people in the beef industry, and this year has been no exception," NAB executive regional and agribusiness manager Julie Rynski said.
East Gippsland beef producer Jen Smith has been recognised for her efforts to help rebuild her community in the wake of the Black Summer bushfires.
The 36-year-old was named the winner of the 2021 CCA NAB Agribusiness Rising Champion Initiative and will now attend an all-expenses paid leadership development week in Canberra, along with the other six winners.
Ms Smith owns and operates a beef production enterprise at Tambo Crossing.
She is also general manager of Gippsland Agricultural Group, which operates the Gippsland Research Farm, trialling and demonstrating projects to assist the region's producers to unlock their production potential.
"Being a Rising Champion is ultimately all about the greater good," she said.
"It will provide me with the skills, experience and insights to make the most of the opportunities available to producer groups, so we can navigate bureaucratic systems and have meaningful impact at a grassroots level.
"Being in the same room as the people who are driving industry decisions at a national level, and understanding how those decisions are made, will be invaluable for me and the producers in my region."
NAB Executive for Regional and Agribusiness, Julie Rynski, said Jen is an exceptional role model for other young members of the beef industry.
Cattle Council of Australia president Markus Rathsmann congratulated the Gippsland farmer for her dedication to the beef industry.
"Jen reflects the high calibre of candidates ... and bodes well for the future of the Australian beef industry," Mr Rathsmann said.
Stafford Ives-Heres was crowned the Tasmanian winner and recognised for his work on his family enterprise, Shanford Park.
The operation includes 400 Angus breeders and he also share farms and manages a neighbouring property with similar numbers.
"Striving to make sure we have more young people in the industry is something I'm very passionate about," he said.
"The path to farm ownership in the red meat industry seems to be more difficult for young Tasmanians.
"The average age of a beef producer in Tasmania is 56 (and) lot of family farms are being sold"
He said in his area of Circular Head in Tasmania, 75 per cent of farming properties were foreign-owned, which made it almost impossible for young farmers to buy property.
"If a young person wants to get into agriculture now it's getting increasingly difficult as land and cattle prices go up," he said.
The publisher of this masthead, Australian Community Media, is a proud supporter of the Rising Champions Initiative.