Focused on clearing a path for the wool industry’s future leaders, Australian Wool Innovation held its Breeding Leadership course at Clare last week and attracted more than 20 participants.
Passionate industry representatives from SA, Vic, Qld and Tasmania attended the five-day course that delved into topics that looked at the industry’s future, entrepreneurship, innovation, managing change and strategic planning.
The 2018 course attracted a 50 per cent off-farm representation including wool buyers and brokers, teachers, consultants, and those who were connected to the wool supply chain.
Rural Directions have delivered the course since 2006 and facilitator Carlyn Sherriff said the course was about building leadership capacity of young people in the wool industry.
“It is important to have access to training about the leadership aspects of working within a team because it provides more tools for our future leaders,” she said.
“Personality typing and building confidence of our future leaders was a really important aspect of the course too, a lot of participants found this part to be very beneficial for personal development.”
“Those who attended the course in past years were able to go onto further opportunities with AWI because they acquired the right thinking and understood where industry wanted the wool sector to go.”
The participants visited wool processor Michell Wool, Anlaby Station, Kapunda, and sheep studs in the Mid North, including North Ashrose Merino stud, Bundaleer.
Trelawney Trading manager William Sandow, Watervale, attended the course and said the training provided insight into himself and the future path of his family business, that included wool growing, cropping and vineyard production.
“The personal development aspect was particularly beneficial, I wanted to learn more about working in teams and also build confidence in taking on more of the business as we move forward into a succession plan,” Mr Sandow said.
“As the wool industry continues to perform with its return and quality, we decided to start growing our own rams and we are trying to increase the production of our self-replacing Merino flock,” he said.
Naracoorte High School agriculture teacher Chelsea Dohlenburg hailed from a Merino sheep enterprise at Nhill, Vic, and decided to attend the course to help open industry doors for her students.
“When teachers participate and link in strongly with industry it creates communication between industry and agriculture schools,” Ms Dohlenburg said.
“It gives ag students a direct link to industry and that is important because youth are our future,” she said.
“I am excited to stay in the wool industry going forward because there is always something new happening and although we can always improve, having the skills to push for the extra one per cent really motivates me.”
AWI capacity building manager Emily King, Dubbo, said because AWI was the RDC for the sector, it was vital to invest in the wool industry’s next generation.
“The course is not just for woolgrowers, it is for shearers, scientists and consultants – it is aimed at anyone eager to build leadership in the industry,” she said.
“If we do not give leaders coming up through the ranks access to these skills, then effectively we are asking woolgrowers to run successful businesses without offering education in the key attributes they need.”