Grain leader in making

A Mid West grain grower has been selected as one of 10 participants in a national agriculture fellowship.

Mingenew farmer Rebecca Kelly is among three from WA chosen for the 2021 Australian Grain Leaders Program.

Ms Kelly returned to farming three years ago after completing a Bachelor of Agribusiness at Marcus Oldham College in Victoria, and has worked on both the production and business side of her family’s Edenvale Farm, which crops wheat, lupins, canola, pasture and coriander.

The AGLP has been running for more than 13 years, with participants also given the opportunity to complete a project focusing on how a farm business challenge or industry issue could be addressed.

Ms Kelly said she hoped to look at ways to increase productivity beyond increasing scale as part of her AGLP project.

“I’m really excited to be a part of the program — I’ve had some friends who have done it and heard really good things,” she said.

“It is always good to take part in self-development and it will be great to meet some other people in the industry.

“My project is still fairly new at this stage but I'm looking into niche high-value crops that can fit into broadacre operations and complement the current cropping system.”

GrainGrowers leadership and events general manager Kaitlin Commins said she looked forward to seeing the projects the AGLP participants would be undertaking.

“To see the unique leadership and management skills develop in each of the participants makes us really proud to be able to offer the AGLP and excited about the future leadership of our Australian grains industry,” she said.

“The program is a great opportunity for people that can sometimes work in quite remote and isolated areas to develop a support network and come together to consider how the grains industry can approach different challenges.”

GrainGrowers will cover the cost of participants taking part in the year-long program as well as travel and accommodation expenses.