Upper North Farming Systems honoured with PIRSA Grower Group Award and Tanja Morgan recognised for outstanding service to agriculture

Upper North Farming Systems honoured with PIRSA Grower Group Award and Tanja Morgan recognised for outstanding service to agriculture

2022 PIRSA Grower Group Award

Upper North Farming Systems (UNFS) has taken out the coveted PIRSA Grower Group Award for 2022. Presented at Monday night’s Gala Awards Dinner at the Marion Hotel in front of an enthusiastic audience, the group was a popular winner.

From left: Leet Wilksch, Michael Zwar, Ruth Sommerville and Prof Mehdi Doroudi
From left: Leet Wilksch, Michael Zwar, Ruth Sommerville and Prof Mehdi Doroudi

Upper North Farming Systems (UNFS) has taken out the coveted PIRSA Grower Group Award for 2022. Presented at Monday night’s Gala Awards Dinner at the Marion Hotel in front of an enthusiastic audience, the group was a popular winner.

In keeping with the forum theme ‘Building Collaborative Capacity’, Executive Officer Ruth Sommerville said, “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 intends to deliver a series of workshops which will bring the next generation of farmers together to build their skills and confidence.

Context will be developed in consultation with the UNFS Young Farmers Hub representatives and include crop establishment and development; the basics of planning, managing and monitoring a farm business; and understanding farm chemistry.

Mehdi Doroudi, Chief Executive Officer for Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA) lauded the group for embracing a new generation of farmers, stepping in to the role of mentor and collaborating to ensure our young farmers have the peer support necessary to learn and prosper.

UNFS is celebrating 21 years of leading farmers to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of the agricultural industry in low rainfall areas.

2022 Ag Excellence Perpetual Award for Outstanding Service to Agriculture

 

The Ag Excellence Perpetual Award for Outstanding Service to Agriculture was awarded to one of Mallee Sustainable Farming’s (MSF) most prized contributors. Tanja Morgan is renowned for the innovative way she adopts fresh approaches to communicating and extending information to farmers and the wider rural community.

From left: Leet Wilksch and Tanja Morgan
From left: Leet Wilksch and Tanja Morgan

Nicole Byrnes, MSF Chair, said Tanja has always put farmers first, describing her unrelenting commitment to ensure that Mallee farmers have access to and receive their fair share of the RD&E investment dollar”.

“The Mallee and the broader Ag Excellence grower group network benefit enormously from Tanja’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”, said Leet Wilksch, Ag Ex Chair.