Youth beefs up debate on future
CATTLE enthusiast Ella Anderson is keen to tackle some of the beef industry’s big issues as Tasmania’s representative in a national competition.
Miss Anderson has been named as the Tasmanian finalist in the 2019 NAB Agri- business Rising Beef Champion Initiative, run by the Cattle Council.
The initiative aims to develop the skills of the next generation of industry leaders.
She will join six other state representatives in Canberra.
Miss Anderson said one of the topics she wanted to tackle was the ongoing threat to the industry’s social licence.
“There’s a real lack of understanding about the industry, even among highly educated people,” she said.
“People out there don’t look for information unless it comes up in their news feed on social media, and unfortunately a lot of the stuff they see is negative. There is a real gap there and as an industry we need to start getting into that space.”
Miss Anderson works as a clinical psychologist and lives on her family’s farm at Mayberry, where she helps manage a herd of 100 breeding cows.
She also runs her own Mur- ray Grey and Gelbvieh studs and is vice-president of the Australian Gelbvieh Association and a co-ordinator for Gelbvieh Youth.
“One of the things I’m looking forward to is meeting like-minded people from across the country who are passionate about the indus- try,” Miss Anderson said.
The state finalists will attend a four-day program in Canberra from tomorrow until Wednesday, when the winner will be announced.
They will network with staff from the Department of Agriculture, meet politicians and learn leadership skills.