[PRESS RELEASE] Australia’s National Rural Ambassador for 2023 is Perth-based poultry fancier Reece Jerrett
Announcement posted by Writers Who 13 Oct 2023
Australia's emerging agricultural show leaders from each state arrived in Tasmania this week to compete in the esteemed National Rural Ambassador Award, hosted by Agricultural Shows Australia.
For over 20 years, this programme has sought to discover the next generation of rural leaders who are passionate about representing their shows, their communities, and agriculture.
Announced tonight, the winner for 2023 is the youngest competitor in the field, Western Australia's Rural Ambassador Reece Jerrett of Mundijong near Perth. Reece is best known as a passionate poultry exhibitor and advocate for peri-urban agriculture. Serving as the President of the Western Australian Poultry Association, he often engages in volunteering at poultry clubs and agricultural societies when he's not breeding and exhibiting his own poultry and waterfowl.
"I can't wait to go around Australia and listen to the different agricultural communities, and experience the way they run their show societies," he said tonight.
"I look forward to networking and championing the importance of local food security within Australia, and promoting the reduction of food miles."
Based in an outer suburb of Perth, Reece drew attention to the expanding urban sprawl as a threat to agricultural exhibitions.
"These effects on agricultural properties are felt right through different areas of the community, by impacting local food security, a decrease in exhibitors and volunteers in agricultural societies and the long term impact of young people leaving agricultural businesses all together," he said.
Dr. Rob Wilson, chairman of Agricultural Shows Australia, the peak body overseeing 572 agricultural shows in Australia which attract six million visitors annually and contribute nearly $1billion to the national economy, said the award provides a forum for young people to express their views through education and experience, and develop closer links with like-minded representatives from around the state and across Australia.
Claiming the runner-up position is Victoria's Rural Ambassador Alexandra Pattinson, 29, of Inverloch. Alexandra has served as a committee member of the Foster and District Agricultural and Pastoral Society since 2018. She initiated a Young Farmers Challenge, is a part of the Melbourne Royal Emerging Leaders Committee, and has a long history of participating in shows—her personal best being a winning tomato chutney and a second-place finish in the chocolate cake category using her Nan's recipe.
"The opportunity to be Rural Ambassador for Victoria has been so valuable for me. I have been able to highlight my show, my community and my region on a statewide scale. The chance to continue this at national level and to the rest of the country is thrilling," she said.
The National Finals of the Agricultural Shows Australia Rural Ambassador competition are the apex of a series of annual contests across Australia. Entrants from local exhibitions progress to regional and state-level competitions before reaching the national stage.
The national championships rotate locations each year, with this year's event hosted by Tasmanian Ag Shows at the Royal Launceston Show.
Judging the event this year were Dwayne Schubert, Georgina Wallace, David Thomas, and Karolin MacGregor. [END]