By Leon Georgiou
WOMEN living and working in the agriculture industry will meet in the Limestone Coast next month for a whirlwind tour of the region’s primary produce sector.
Members of Women in Agriculture and Business South Australia together with guests will explore the region during the group’s annual gathering on August 7 and 8 – led by the group’s state president Narelle Scott.
The tour includes some of the region’s most successful agricultural operations and businesses, including the state’s biggest onion packing facility, Dolling’s Produce, Mini Jumbuck’s wool processing factory, the Naracoorte Regional Livestock Exchange, Valley View Gardens, Naracoorte Caves, Petticoat Lane Historical Site and various vineyards and wineries around Penola.
Participants will also have the opportunity to learn about flooding irrigation.
Women in Agriculture and Business promotions officer Helen Colliver said while the sites visited during the event would help showcase the Limestone Coast, participants would also get insight into a number of useful business practices and agricultural techniques.
“It can be something scientific or procedural things. Sometimes it’s how they run the business or how they advertise their business or the benefits to the district… It’s a learning process really, for all manner of reasons,” she said.
An official dinner at the Gather on Gordon Function Centre will also be held, with guest speaker Alex Thomas delivering an address on occupational safety around the farm.
Ms Thomas is director and principal consultant of her own business, Alex Thomas Pty Ltd, and was the winner of the 2018 AgriFutures Rural Woman of the Year award and the 2018 Safework S.A. Augusta Zadow Award.
Women in Agriculture and Business has been functional for around 104 years.
It has about 170 members across the state, with around 50 members throughout the Limestone Coast.
Ms Scott said the group aimed to encourage and support rurally-based women to educate themselves, while socialising with like minded colleagues.
“We are trying to empower women and educate them and give them general skills,” she said.
All women based in rural South Australia are welcome to attend.
Visit www.wabsa.com.au or email wabinsa@gmail.com for more information.
