The Australian Farmer of the Year awards celebrate and applaud the outstanding achievements of those individuals and families making a significant contribution to Australian agriculture.
Australian Farmer of the Year
Tess and Andrew Herbert
Eugowra, NSW
Andrew and Tess Herbert are the directors of Gundamain Pastoral Co., a sixth-generation farming enterprise in the Central West of New South Wales.
When Andrew and Tess took over operational control in the 1990s the company identified as a small, mixed farming enterprise.
With the construction of a new feedlot in 2000, the business now consists of a 6,000-head cattle feedlot, 6,500-7,000 ewes for lamb and wool production, 5,500 hectares of cropping, hay silage and pasture, with some 400ha of remnant vegetation set aside.
In addition to feeding all Gundamain-owned cattle for major domestic retailers and export markets, the feedlot site is used by schools and universities for group visits.
The Herberts are early adopters of technology, priding themselves on their businesses' ability to adapt and be flexible in the face of challenges.
Andrew and Tess Herbert are the 13th winners of the Kondinin Group and ABC Rural Australian Farmer of the Year award.
The annual awards program has been running since 2010 and continues to recognise excellence in farming and farming communities across rural and regional Australia.
Young Farmer of the Year
Mitchell McNab
Ardmona, Victoria
Mitchell McNab is a fifth-generation fruit grower in Ardmona.
He manages his family's orchard, which is more than 100 years old, growing varieties of apples, pears, and plums.
He is a driven, hard-working young farmer who strives for excellence and the long-term prosperity of the orchard, consistently considering new varieties with improved systems to develop the best quality and return per hectare.
Mr McNab is developing high-density plantings to suit the climate and conditions for different fruit varieties and investigating machinery and processes to suit the new approach — such as pruning and picking platforms, and narrow vehicles for the high-density planting areas.
His aim is to develop a system that will double the tonnage per hectare.
He is actively engaged and involved with the fruit-growing industry and is chairman of Fruit Growers Victoria Ltd. He is generous with his knowledge and time towards other growers and committees and has been featured on several podcasts that assist fruit growers across Australia and other parts of the world.
Mr McNab's main goal is the survival of the orchard and sustaining profitability. He is an inspiring role model to the youth as he shows that dedication and hard work can create success.
Award for Excellence in Innovation
Tony Single
Narratigah, NSW
With a background in agronomy, third-generation farmer Tony Single returned to the family enterprise near Baradine, south-east of Coonamble, with wife Sharon to take up the role of agronomist and cropping manager working alongside his parents.
Cropping about 4,500 hectares, Mr Single manages a mixture of winter cereals, oilseeds and pulses, along with sorghum over the summer. The Singles also have a trade cattle enterprise, utilising native and improved sub-tropical pastures.
Tony Single believes in following best practice agriculture based on scientific research. He employs a risk management strategy based on pre-determined moisture targets to trigger planting and rotation choice.
Timeliness, a zero-tillage farming system, rotations aimed at maintaining ground cover, and tools to provide effective weed control drive the farm's profitability and sustainability.
Mr Single uses the family's proprietary, drone-based weed mapping system to scout for and map weeds, helping them to better plan for and implement herbicide applications through both broadcast and spot spray technology.
He is the current chair of Grain Orana Alliance, a not-for-profit group of researchers, farmers and agronomists that carry out practical research under the auspice of the Grains Research Development Corporation (GRDC).
Throughout the recent drought, Mr Single and his family managed to maintain their crop strategy. Despite lower-than-average yields and profits, they kept ground cover. When it did rain, their soil and rotations were ready to take advantage of the available moisture.
Over the past few extremely wet years, his investment through the drought in increasing on-farm grain storage and drying silo proved invaluable.
Through innovative strategies and a healthy respect for science, Mr Single and his family run a resilient and successful farming business.
Award for Excellence in Technology
Ray Taylor
Robertson, Queensland
Ray Taylor is the General Manager of Taylor Family Produce, a 90-year-old family-owned and operated fresh leafy green vegetable operation based in Queensland.
As a fourth-generation Taylor on the land, he oversees 191 hectares of growing lands and the supply of leafy greens to wholesalers and major supermarkets on the east coast of Australia.
Mr Taylor uses innovative tech options to develop reports on water, waste, pesticide, biosecurity, energy, biodiversity, soil, climate, workplace safety, climate, runoff, air, and nutrients, all to contribute to a better business.
Recently he identified possible drought-proofing infrastructure such as dam covers to preserve water during droughts, with covers reducing evaporation likely to preserve 5.9ML of water when it is needed the most.
Mr Taylor has also explored additional crop protection infrastructure for the nursery, such as bird and hail netting, and the use of laser lights to reduce pests settling in buildings, which offers a solution to keeping work areas more clean and safe than some other treatments.
In addition to crop rotations and the use of fallow to nourish soil after harvest, Mr Mr Taylor has maximised his use of solar on the farm, reduced chemical use, and used trickle tape for water conservation.
His long-term plan for the business is to continue to supply a consistently high standard to the Australian domestic market in a sustainable and ethical way while paving the way for the next Taylor generation.
Award for Excellence in Diversification and Sustainability
Mark Foletta
Benalla, Victoria
Working alongside his father, Mr Foletta manages a 450ha traditional farming enterprise 12 kilometres south of Benalla.
The operation includes Angus cattle, fat lambs, merino wool, various varietal wine grapes, and lucerne production.
In addition, Mr Foletta has diversified the farm's agricultural produce with 2ha of cherries, nearly a hectare of heritage pumpkins, and the first Victorian licence to forage for 1-2 tonnes of wild mushrooms annually.
Mr Foletta takes a holistic approach focusing on improving soil health for his farm and securing direct markets, optimising his use of products that would otherwise be seen as waste.
It is Mr Foletta's innovative approach to farming that saw him develop a successful paddock-to-plate enterprise through the diversification of his produce and markets, all while practising regenerative agriculture and increasing soil carbon.
Mr Foletta aims for a positive environmental, social and economic impact. In 2009 he began a program to improve his pasture by eliminating chemical nutrition and using a dry blend of organic soil conditioners on his highly acidic soils.
This resulted in a change to the composition of the pasture to reduce weeds such as silver grass and capeweed, and reduced insect pressure.
The Cation Exchange Capacity measures the ability of the soil to hold nutrients, and this had increased by 30 per cent by 2019. Soil carbon has also increased by 56 per cent, along with time-controlled grazing to help improve mineral cycles.
The building of soil health has increased the overall carrying capacity for grazing on the farm by 20 per cent.
Mr Foletta also uses green waste and spent mushroom compost as an organic adjunct instead of synthetic fertilisers for his heirloom pumpkins and cherry orchard.
To ensure the vineyard continues to perform well, he utilises under-vine maintenance equipment to reduce weeds. Similarly, to ensure efficiency and productivity with his lucerne crop, he has invested in centre-pivot irrigation. This irrigation system has doubled his annual output of silage and hay.
As a further enhancement to the diversification of his enterprise, Mr Foletta has also planted 2,000 mountain eucalypts for use in medical research.
Award for Excellence in Agricultural Research
Dr Robert Magarey
Sugar Research Australia
Dr Robert Magarey started his sugarcane pathology career in 1981 and has spent most of that time in Tully, northern Queensland.
He has accumulated considerable knowledge of Australian diseases and has written field guides for both Australian and exotic diseases.
Dr Magarey has led eight overseas collaborative projects which addressed pests and diseases of an immediate threat to Australia, and provided consultancy services to sugarcane industries in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
During his 40 years within the industry Dr Magarey has researched many diseases with the development of appropriate management strategies being the ultimate goal. His initial emphasis was on soil-borne diseases, including one caused by a previously undescribed oomycete, Pachymetra chaunorhiza, a pathogen unique to Queensland cane fields.
He has since worked on diseases of bacterial, fungal, protozoan, and phytoplasma origin.
Research projects have taken him on quarantine surveys around the northern Australian, Torres Strait, and PNG coastlines, to identify potential pest and disease threats to Australia.
Dr Magarey's dedication to his research has seen him serve on the executives of the Australasian Plant Pathology Society and the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists, being a past president of both.
His research has enabled the sugarcane industry to protect against exotic threats and safeguard an important Australian agricultural industry sector.
Community Leader Award
Jackie Elliott
Rural Women's Day
Jackie Elliott is the founder of Rural Women's Day, a non-profit initiative aimed at connecting rural and regional women through community, collaboration, and celebration.
The inaugural Rural Women's Day event held in 2019 welcomed 170 attendees to Dunkeld, Victoria, to celebrate the United Nations International Day of Rural Women. With Ms Elliott's boundless enthusiasm, the event has amassed a passionate virtual community that now exceeds 10,000 followers.
Ms Elliott has driven the success of Rural Women's Day and brand awareness with rural women by designing and publishing a collaborative keepsake magazine during the pandemic that was distributed across Australia and New Zealand. She also developed gift parcels supporting more than 30 rural businesses in 2021.
Following many cancelled events during the pandemic, finally, in October 2022, Ms Elliott hosted Rural Women's Day in Dunkeld, welcoming 200 state, interstate, and international guests to a weekend for connection and celebration. There were also three other events held in Nagambie, Victoria, and Dubbo and Young in New South Wales.
In October 2023, volunteers will host more than ten Rural Women's Day events across six states of Australia including Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales. These events will welcome more than 1,000 attendees collectively.
The volunteer Rural Women's Day event hosts will be supported and mentored by Ms Elliott to ensure they are successful and sustainable to continue well into the future.
Rural Consultant of the Year
Ingrid Roth
Narrabri, New South Wales
As a rural consultant, Ingrid Roth specialises in working with rural industries, research organisations and rural communities throughout NSW, while also co-owning and managing an orchard in Mudgee.
For more than 25 years, Ms Roth has brought her practical knowledge and experience to her consultancy, working with rural industry peak farmer groups and their rural research and development corporations — in horticulture, sugar, grains, coffee, and cotton — in research strategy, sustainability frameworks, communications, leadership, extension and evaluation.
In the past few years, Ms Roth's clients have included Horticulture Innovation, CSIRO Agriculture and Food, AgriFutures Australia, Sugar Research Australia, Grains Research and Development Corporation, and Cotton Research and Development Corporation. It is her recent work in the horticulture industry that has garnered high praise.
Ms Roth was able to work closely with the sector to deliver a robust, achievable sustainability framework that industry can now champion, with her work commended by the Hort Innovation board for the high standard and quality of the sustainability framework and its impact across the entire horticulture sector.
Agricultural Student of the Year
Jay Elliot
Perth, Western Australia
Jay Elliot is a prime example of how to follow your passions in agriculture, regardless of age.
As a mature-aged student, Ms Elliot is currently undertaking a Bachelor of Science in animal science and health at Murdoch University.
With an initial interest in studying to become a vet, Ms Elliot realised there were so other options in agriculture that she had not explored. Her passion still lies in livestock, but she has broadened her experience by participating in a six-week scholarship in Indonesia as part of the Agricultural Professional Practicum through Australian Consortium for 'In-Country' Indonesian Studies (ACICIS) Study Indonesia.
She was part of a small cohort of 90 students from around Australia, and the learning and connections she made have solidified her passion for the agricultural industry.
Ms Elliot is a member of Women In Farming, together with a group of aspiring women who represent many avenues of agriculture and related industries.
In addition to her studies, Ms Elliot assists in sheep judging for the Kelmscott Agricultural Show, with a large focus on encouraging high school students to get involved in agriculture.
Her balance of raising teenage daughters, studying full-time, and working part-time is inspiring.
She is passionate about showing women and mothers that it can be done and that they can strive to be the best they can be, even when they are from regional areas where challenges are often greater.
About the awards
The ABC co-founded the Farmer of the Year Award with the Kondinin Group in 2010 in order to recognise best practice and excellence in agriculture.
Nominations are provided by the community, and the winners are selected by a panel of independent judges.
The announcements were made at Parliament House in Canberra at an event hosted by the Kondinin Group and the ABC.