THE Upper North Farming Systems group and Mallee Sustainable Farming's Tanja Morgan were the toast of Ag Excellence Alliance's awards night on Monday.
Announced at the Alliance's Gala Awards Dinner at Marion Hotel on Monday night, UNFS claimed the coveted PIRSA Grower Group Award, while Mrs Morgan was presented with the Perpetual Award for Outstanding Service to Agriculture.
UNFS, an agricultural research and networking group, is celebrating 21 years of assisting farmers to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the agricultural industry in low rainfall areas.
PIRSA chief executive officer Mehdi Doroudi lauded the group for embracing a new generation of farmers, stepping in to the role of mentor and collaborating to ensure young farmers had the peer support necessary to learn and prosper.
In keeping with the forum theme of 'building collaborative capacity', UNFS said it was planning workshops to bring young farmers together to build skills and confidence.
The workshops will be developed in consultation with UNFS Young Farmers Hub representatives and will include crop establishment and development; the basics of planning, managing and monitoring a farm business; and understanding farm chemistry.
"The recently launched Young Farmers Hub aims to bring together those new to the industry to support each other, learn with each other and ultimately grow the future of our industry," UNFS executive officer Ruth Sommerville said.
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The recipient of the Perpetual Award for Outstanding Service to Agriculture, Tanja Morgan, was described as "one of Mallee Sustainable Farming's most prized contributors" and "renowned for the innovative way she adopts fresh approaches to communicating and extending information to farmers and the wider rural community".
MSF chair Nicole Byrnes said Mrs Morgan has always put farmers first, saying she had "unrelenting commitment to ensuring that Mallee farmers had access to and received their fair share of the research, development and extension investment dollar".
Ag Ex Alliance chair Leet Wilksch said the Mallee and broader Ag Excellence grower group network benefited enormously from Mrs Morgan's valued contributions.
"Her dedication and tenacity is reflected in her efforts to broaden the reach of initiatives undertaken beyond the MFS borders, building collaborative partnerships with a number of grower groups in co-delivering projects," he said.
Award and social photos supplied by Sandy Kimber, Sandy Kay Photography.
