Queensland manufacturing: Meet the 2023 AgriFuture Rural Women’s Award finalists
From a woman who launched a community garden and migrant employment program to another who is using sustainable practices to feed our beloved pets, these are the Queensland women who are making waves in the rural agricultural and manufacturing industries.
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The four finalists for the AgriFuture Rural Women’s Award has been announced, and the Queensland competition is filled with women who are making waves in the agriculture and manufacturing industries.
Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Rural Communities Minister Mark Furner said the award promoted the “wonderful contribution” women make to rural industries, businesses and communities.
“This year’s winner will receive a $15,000 Westpac grant and represent Queensland at the national announcement in September where they will have the chance to win an additional $20,000 Westpac grant,” he said.
All four finalists have received a $2000 grant provided by the University of Queensland.
The winner of the competition will be announced March 2, 2023.
Meet the finalists below:
Louise Noble, Toowoomba – The Mulberry Project
A former architect who resided in Paris for 13 years, Louise Noble traded the building designs for the veggie patch after she had a conversation with a friend under her mulberry tree in Nobby, Queensland.
“An African fellow had arrived from the Congo after spending 16 years in a refugee camp and he said ‘Louise, you have all this land, do you mind if we come and grow some veggies at your house’, and I said sure why not?” Ms Noble said.
After she dug up 500sq m of her property, Ms Noble began allowing others from “displaced communities” to grow produce in her backyard.
The Mulberry Project has helped reconnect people with traditional planted foods as well as link people to employment, Ms Noble said.
“People who come from a very wide range of migrant backgrounds, they’re new to the workforce here so that poses challenges for them, so we’ve designed a range of programs to help them overcome some of those issues and get them into sustainable employment,” she said.
“Being an architect I have a lot of transferable skillets like management and community development.
“You could be working with a range of stakeholders or CEOs to people shovelling dirt so I think that it’s kind of surprising but at the same time I find it’s a good fit for the skills I have.”
The business owner said she was proud to still be in her role, despite its challenges, and said if she were to win the $15,000 grant she would put the funds towards gaining more leadership skills and speaking with similar social groups.
“The other finalists are such impressive women, I’m really looking forward to meeting them all,” she said.
“I’m really excited to get to meet such accomplished women and whatever happens I’m really excited that I’ve been given this opportunity.
“I think 2023 is the year of women in agriculture, it’s really exciting.”
Emma-Louise Gibbons, Sunshine Coast – Huds and Toke
What started as manufacturing horse treats has led to a long and successful journey to creating dog treats with a sustainable difference.
Owner of Huds and Toke and Sunshine Coast local Emma-Louise Gibbons said she believed “everyone who owns a horse generally owns a dog”, before her and husband Russell got into the dog treats manufacturing business.
“We have a link between producers in Australia and you can see where we fit in the commoditised world in Australia with regards to creating products with a higher value,” she said.
The manufacturing company, named after the childhood imaginary friends of Mrs Gibbon’s son, Huds and Toke is made up of 15 women in the factory.
“There’s not many (women) around, our factory is all women apart from my husband who calls himself the ‘heavy lifter’,” she said.
“We work together to make sure we produce world class premium products.
The latest innovation of using insect protein in dog treats which launched 12 months ago comes after Mrs Gibbons started her own insect farm to fully understand the processes that would be required.
“Insect farming is a lot more intensive, it uses very little water which is really where a lot of the sustainability part comes from,” she said.
The businesswoman said if she won the extra grant money she would spend it on another piece of equipment that helps process the protein to ensure it doesn’t lose its nutritional value when heated.
“I think these days sustainability is far more on people’s minds and the prices in the pet food industry are increasing dramatically,” she said.
“I’m amazed I made it to the top four in Queensland, and completely honoured to be standing beside other women who are so incredible.”
Emma Black, Kingaroy – Black Box Co
It’s safe to say that agriculture and innovation was in Emma Black’s blood and she was destined to follow in her parent’s footsteps who were sheep producers in Longreach, and as Ms Black said “innovators and forward thinkers themselves”.
The owner of start-up Black Box Co, Ms Black said she studied livestock science at the University of New England before launching the profound data analysis software.
“I’ve always been heavily involved in agriculture and worked in a number of different roles of the supply chain,” she said.
“Everything from nutrition consulting to pasture management through to working in the processing of the supply chain, so it was really all of those years of having boots on the ground that I learnt a lot.”
The Kingaroy woman said through her experience of working different roles in the supply chain she noticed a gap in the industry when it came to data.
“Everyone thinks data is painful, we hate sitting in spreadsheets for hours trying to get insights,” she said.
“The software analyses (the data) and provides key insights of each segment of the supply chain, telling people what they need to know to really drive better decisions in terms of how they manage their livestock, the types of livestock they buy and sales decisions within their business.
“Ultimately from that its leading us to much more sustainable businesses.”
The businesswoman said she was surprised to discover she’d made it as a finalist in the AgriFuture award.
“I was really excited,” she said.
“It’s just an incredible network, it offers a really wonderful platform to enable change in agriculture and support women that are really leading the way in terms of innovation and who try to generate change particularly in regional and remote areas.”
If granted the extra $15,000 Ms Black said she was primarily use it to increase education on the software.
“We have this incredible tool that’s available for the everyday producer,” she said.
“It’s about educating them on how to use that and showing them that this resource is now available but this is how you can use it to really transform your business in terms of increased productivity and sustainability going forward.”
Kate Lamason, Cairns – Little Tuna
Despite being a qualified accountant, Kate Lamason’s passion came from the ocean and luckily enough she found another avid lover of the sea with husband Rowan, who was a tuna fisherman.
Now the keen angler is a finalist in the coveted AgriFuture Rural Women’s Award.
“I’ve always loved fishing it was something I grew up doing,” she said.
“My husband’s family pioneered the tuna fishing out of Cairns, his father had 13 boats operating out of Cairns and when I met my husband he was catching all of this amazing local tuna yet we were eating the canned stuff that was imported, and thus we started Little Tuna,” she said.
The business owner said the idea aligned with her care for health and sustainability.
“I really care about what I eat and I’m quite conscious of eating healthy and understanding where food comes from,” she said.
Mrs Lamason said she’s aware that being a woman in the fishing industry is a rare find and encourages other women to join the club.
“I’m a minority, I know it,” she said.
“There’s heaps of space for women to be involved and lot’s of opportunities, I know there’s the wider (industry) agriculture which is the same.
“We have the same challenges.”
If she nabs the $15k grant, Mrs Lamason said it would go towards strengthening her leadership skills as well as boost the next step in their business plan to release new products.
“We have a lot of plans in place and want to represent Australia on an international level,” she said.
“We have a lot of testing, new products and developments and it will help get things done faster and sooner and at a higher quality.”
The businesswoman discussed her excitement to be apart of the awards and said she was “absolutely thrilled” when she found out she was a finalist in the AgriFuture competition.
“Historically the women that come out of AgriFutures are amazing,” she said.
“To be a finalist myself is such a huge honour and I can’t wait to meet everybody and get to know what they’re doing.
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