Rural Women’s Award 2010 Victorian winner
Victorian Rural Women Of The Year Announced
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A fifth generation farmer from Benalla and founding member of Australian Women in Agriculture Inc was named the winner of the 2010 Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) Rural Women’s Award.
Alana Johnson was selected from a field of five finalists.
At a ceremony at Parliament House in March 2010, Agriculture Minister Joe Helper said Ms Johnson’s ambition to invest in agriculture through innovative philanthropy made her a praiseworthy winner of this year’s award.
“Alana has many accomplishments; she is engaged in beef cattle production, farm forestry and landscape renovation with her husband and sons on their property near Benalla, and holds a position on the board of the Victorian Women’s Trust,” Mr Helper said.
“Alana was also a participant at the 2020 Summit and a facilitator at the National Rural Women’s Summit.”
Ms Johnson will receive a $10,000 bursary which she planned to establish the Australian Agricultural Future Foundation - a philanthropic vehicle to support long term development and viability in the agriculture sector.
“This project will create a new approach to agricultural philanthropy, both in Australia and internationally, and be the first national philanthropic trust in the world dedicated to the future of agriculture,” Ms Johnson said.
The 2010 runner-up was Claire Penniceard, a pig producer from Euroa who has previously won significant awards including the Victorian Telstra Business Women’s Award.
Ms Penniceard established her enterprise, The Pig Pen, in 2000, and supplies elite export markets, while operating as an environmentally, socially and commercially sustainable working model of intensive agriculture.
As part of the award, both Ms Johnson and Ms Penniceard were given the opportunity to attend the prestigious Australian Institute of Directors’ Course in Canberra.
Ms Johnson will join winners from other states and territories as finalists for the national award to be announced in Canberra in May.
Now in its eleventh year, the RIRDC Rural Women’s Award recognises the vital contribution women make to agriculture and natural resource management in Victoria.
This year’s finalists were Prue Addlem, Rowan O’Hagan, and Susan Findlay Tickner.
What is the Rural Industries Research & Development (RIRDC) Rural Women’s Award?
2010 Victorian Rural Women's Award Finalists
