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Western Australian woman named Young Farmer of the YearAustralia - September 18, 2012 Thirty-one-year-old Bindi Murray from Kunmallup Pastoral in Western Australia was selected from over 110 entries to be named this year’s Young Farmer of the Year. Dow AgroSciences partnered with the Kondinin Group and ABC Rural for the first time this year to sponsor the award, which was open to all farmers aged between 18 and 35. In announcing this year’s winner, Jim Phimister, Marketing Specialist for Dow AgroSciences, said sponsoring the Young Farmer of the Year awards is in keeping with the company’s passion for encouraging young people to consider careers in agriculture. “As a global company with a commitment to research and development, we know that best practice farming and good science are the foundation to developing sustainable solutions to enable farmers to feed the world population, which is expected to double by 2050,” Jim said. “Bindi is a great example of best practice farming, with her on-farm innovation and outreach to the wider community making her an obvious choice for the award. She is an outstanding livestock practitioner with a view to maximising profitability while sustaining a delicate land resource. “She is also a member of no fewer than four sheep grower groups and panels and intends to set up a benchmarking group with local farmers to provide feedback on business performance. She does all of this while raising two children under the age of three.” Bindi joined her parents on the 6,000 hectare mixed copping and livestock operation at Woodanilling, 240 km south of Perth, five years ago, after a career in agripolitics and genetic research. Since returning to the business to manage the livestock enterprise, which includes 19,000 sheep, Bindi has made a number of important business changes to increase stocking rates, maximise profitability and sustain the land. “I’ve changed our breeding objective to enable us to develop a productive flock that’s easy to care for,” Bindi said. “We are now only purchasing rams sold with Australian Sheep Breeding Values for our Merino and prime lamb production. Through careful genetic selection, we’ve reduced dags across our flock. Previously the issue was causing us quite a problem in terms of lost production as sheep with dags are more affected by worms, which results in lower weights and poorer wool quality. “We’ve also reduced wrinkles across the flock as sheep with more wrinkles are more susceptible to fly strike. Managing fly strike is labour intensive so by reducing the likelihood of wrinkles across our flock, I have more time to spend on other areas of the business.” As a result of careful genetic selection, Bindi has managed to grow stocking rates to between nine and 12 dry sheep equivalent per grazed winter hectare. In comparison, the average stocking rate for the region is eight. Improved land management has been a further focus for Bindi. “I manage the grazing pressure to limit the bare areas and wind erosion during autumn. To do this, I have formulated my own spreadsheets and databases that allow me to track stocking rates and numbers within paddocks both during and between seasons. I pair this information with data on pasture growth rates, which improves the accuracy of pasture and animal management when determining grazing rotations and feed rations.” Jim added that sponsoring this year’s award dovetails well with Dow AgroSciences’ major industry partnership with the Primary Industry Centre for Science Education (PICSE), a federally funded initiative which promotes science to high school students to showcase the diverse range of careers in agriculture. “Like the PICSE program, the Young Farmer of the Year Award is critical for the future of our industry. We know we need to attract and reward the best and brightest candidates if we’re to be successful in continuing to bring new technology to market to support Australian farmers. To do this, we need to promote careers in agriculture to young people, while celebrating and rewarding current young farmers making a mark in the industry,” Jim said. “In sponsoring this year’s award, we hope Bindi will inspire a new generation of young farmers to make a difference to the future of our industry.” For Editorial Information:
Sharyn Casey
Jim Phimister |
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