Farm World 2017: Ladies’ Day recognises women’s role in agriculture

CURRENT Lardner Park chairman and owner-operator of online clothes shop Nickelby at Darnum, Angela Betheras was on the Lardner Park committee when she won the RIRDC Rural Women’s Award in 2011.

Inspiration: The Women in Agriculture luncheon is a Farm World Signature event. Picture: Andy Rogers

CURRENT Lardner Park chairman and owner-operator of online clothes shop Nickelby at Darnum, Angela Betheras was on the Lardner Park committee when she won the RIRDC Rural Women’s Award in 2011.

So she put forward an idea to the board. “Why not make the Thursday of Farm World Ladies’ Day?” she said.

“And not in a ‘selling pots and pans’ sort of way, but genuinely recognise that women play a very significant role in agriculture, and celebrate that.”

And thus, the Women in Agriculture Luncheon was launched in 2012.

Lardner Park chief executive Nicola Pero said the Women in Agriculture Luncheon has since grown in popularity to become a signature event at Farm World.

“It provides the perfect platform to not only hear from inspirational speakers but also to liaise and network with a room full of talented, proactive women,” she said.

This year’s luncheon will feature Rebel Black and Emma Germano.

Ms Black’s business, The Rural Woman, provides a range of online and in-person programs and events to empower rural women to thrive in their remote locations. The business was named a Regional Online Hero by Google in 2015, and was a national winner of the Collective Hub and Lexus Start Up Pitch competition in 2016.

Ms Black launched her first business at 22 from an office on the opal fields at Lightning Ridge, NSW.

She has spent the past 16 years creating award-winning businesses, while leading dev­elopment in women’s empowerment, community, tourism, education, business and social, emotional and physical wellbeing.

Ms Black is a fellow of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation, a former member of the NSW Rural Women’s State Advisory Committee, former president of the Australian Opal Centre and is a member of Legacy.

She holds qualifications in business, food coaching, forensic healing, community development and training and assessment.

A Gippsland local, Ms Germano hails from Mirboo North where she is the business development and operations manager for Germano Produce, a 120-hectare family-operated farm supplying cauliflower, cabbage and potato crops for the Australian fresh market.

She has a Bachelor of Arts & Science in International Relations & Biology. She received a Nuffield Scholarship in 2014, which enabled her to visit Eur­ope, Israel, Brazil and China to research global export opportunities for vegetables and other primary produce.

Her broad range of skills and experience include a restaurant venture and business strategy consulting, and she is currently the vice president of the Victorian Farmers Federation Horticulture Group.

This year’s luncheon will be held noon-2pm on March 30. Tickets are $45 which includes entry to Farm World, Women in Agriculture presentations, lunch and a glass of wine or soft drink on arrival.