A woman who has driven livestock trucks and educated Bahrainis about animal health and welfare was the guest speaker for the first Ladies in Livestock event.
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The project is designed to empower women by building their technical knowledge and confidence from the paddock to the stockyards.
The first gathering, hosted in Guyra by Northern Tablelands Local Land Services (LLS), attracted 46 women from Ashford, Nowendoc, Tenterfield, Bundarra, Walcha, Armidale and Uralla.
LLS’s Georgie Oakes, a key organiser of Ladies in Livestock, said the women would meet each month on a different property.
“[We will] provide hands-on, practical sessions on topics such as livestock management, pastures, biosecurity, pest control, financial administration, health and safety, and the environment,” Ms Oakes said.
Guyra cattle producer Kirsty White said she was delighted with the event. “I believe there is huge potential to build the capacity of women involved in farming.”
Ms Oakes said the attendees had been “captivated” by the guest speaker, Sharon Dundon.
“[She] talked about her experience in driving livestock trucks, then moving to Bahrain and educating the locals about animal health and welfare,” Ms Oakes said.
“We also had a practical training session on groundcover assessment, which was very well-received by the participants.”
Mrs White said many farm women had life skills that could be better utilised in agriculture with a little support and encouragement.
“Women often come into a farming business with significant skills from previous careers in industries like tourism, administration, accounting and law,” she said.
“This project could help these ladies to be more confident and engaged in their family farming operations.
“There was a wonderful atmosphere at the Guyra workshop.
“Everyone was buoyed by the experience. It’s fantastic that Local Land Services is supporting this initiative.”
More workshops are being planned for Guyra and there has been strong interest expressed in holding similar events in other parts of the region.
“If there are other women out there who would like to get involved but can’t make it to Guyra, we’d really like them to contact us so we can organise more activities for women working in agriculture,” Ms Oakes said.
- Contact Georgie Oakes at 0429 310 264 or georgie.oakes@lls.nsw.gov.au