Champ Kylie will take farmers’ beef to pollies
A CHARTERS Towers grazier aiming to give rural areas a greater voice has won a national beef industry award for her work.
Kylie Stretton was named 2017 NAB Agribusiness Beef Industry Rising Champion at a gala dinner in Alice Springs on Monday night.
Ms Stretton and her husband Shane own beef property Clancella Downs and Northern Livestock Services in Charters Towers. She also owns a rapidly growing free- range egg business, is the co- founder of the Ask an Aussie Farmer Facebook community and is actively involved in lobbying for better rural telecommunications. The title will see her travel to the International Beef Alliance conference in Canada.
“I’ve been applying for this for five years and it feels really overwhelming to actually win,” she said. “It will open a lot of doors to politicians and policy makers so I can take the frustrations of farming families to them.”
The Rising Champion initiative is run by the Cattle Council of Australia and aims to support 18 to 35- year- olds in the Australian beef industry.
Cattle Council of Australia chief executive officer Margo Andrae said Mrs Stretton had leadership skills that would boost the industry.
“Kylie brings leadership skills that the beef industry will benefit from,” she said.
“I am happy that CCA can again provide this opportunity for people like Kylie to step up and be a part of the future of the industry.”