Longerenong Agricultural College appoints first female general manager
The first woman to head up Longerenong Agricultural College in its 132-year history would rather talk ag than gender equality, but says the institution leads in both.
AVRIL Hogan is about to write her name into history.
As the newly appointed general manager of Longerenong Agricultural College, she will be the first woman to hold the role in the college’s 132 years.
Chatting about what excites her most about the new leadership role, she brushes aside the issue of gender, saying women gained equal footing at “Longy” well before her arrival.
“Although I am the first woman to lead Longy, I believe that women have held a strong and respected place in the Australian ag industry for a long time,” said the Horsham businesswoman.
She said women made up about 50 per cent of students at the college and represented more than half the board.
Ms Hogan is more interested in what her 20 years’ experience in marketing and consulting can add to student outcomes.
“The range of jobs and careers within agriculture is varied and diverse and has been where I have spent the majority of my career. Education is the door into this world,” she said.
“Longy students have always graduated ‘job ready’.
“Our challenge is to keep pace with industry, innovation and technology so that they are ahead of the adoption curve, not behind it. I look forward to building further industry and education partnerships.”
Ms Hogan has lived in Horsham for more than 15 years, and is at home in the Wimmera’s sweeping grains paddocks which remind her of her childhood home in Canada’s Saskatchewan region, were she started her career as marketing manager for agricultural machinery manufacturer Highline.
“Growing up in the Canadian wheat belt, everything is touched by agriculture,” she said.
Ms Hogan travelled extensively for Highline, researching markets from The Netherlands and Finland to Brazil and Paraguay in the early 2000s.
“This is how I ended up in Australia,” she said. “On a visit to the Wimmera Machinery Field Days for work I met a local Wimmera farmer, and Longerenong graduate, who is now my husband.”
While they share deep ties to agriculture, Ms Hogan has carved out a career completely independent of her husband’s cropping and Angus operation.
She established a market research consultancy in Horsham that worked with universities, ag companies and the Department of Primary Industries for more than 10 years, and was recognised for her contributions in 2014 as a state finalist in the Rural Woman of the Year awards.
More recently, she worked as marketing and strategy manager for John Deere dealership Emmetts, and helped launch their precision ag and irrigation businesses.
Her knowledge stretches from broadacre crops to horticulture and viticulture, but one of her biggest assets is an ability to “bring things together”.
“All my jobs end up transitioning into an entrepreneurial, project development networker role,” she said.
“Agriculture is global, and the information sharing and research advancements that are gained in one country have the ability to benefit farmers worldwide.”
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