Woolorama ambassador in for long haul as shows return

Kelly Gorter might be the longest-serving Rural Ambassador the Wagin Woolorama has ever seen after being appointed to the role for a second year in a row. The Wagin resident was Woolorama’s 2020 Rural Ambassador, but COVID-19 scuttled her plans to enter the WA competition and her hopes to qualify for the national competition as coronavirus uncertainty saw agricultural shows topple nationwide. Ms Gorter hopes a return to something close to normality this year will mean more country shows, and the WA and National Rural Ambassador competitions, will go ahead. The annual title of National Rural Ambassador is bestowed on a young rural adult — aged between 20 and 30 — with a passion for living and working in rural communities. Boyup Brook farmer Harris Thompson was announced as the first national winner from WA in 16 years in 2019. The competition starts with the appointment of up to 12 Rural Ambassadors per State, who then compete for the title of State or Territory Rural Ambassador, and then go on compete against other winners in a national stand-off. Originally from Kojonup, Ms Gorter is widely regarded as a livestock industry young gun, and moved to Wagin after studying animal science at the University of New England. In her younger years, Ms Gorter attended the local district high school in Kojonup before boarding school in Perth. During her gap year after high school, she worked at the WA College of Agriculture — Cunderdin piggery, and later went on to show cattle at the IGA Perth Royal Show and the WA Youth Cattle Handlers Camp. From there, she was offered the chance to associate judge the led steer and heifer classes at the show, and was offered a position at the Charolais Youth Muster in NSW. While studying at Murdoch University, she transferred her degree to UNE, packed up, and moved to Armidale. Her passion for livestock technology shines through as the owner of her business, KG Livestock Services, and in her work for Wagin farmer Clayton South. As an electronic identification consultant, her day is a perfect mix of in-field data collection and office-based data management and analysis. She offers eID data collection and management services, as well as advice for farm businesses that want to implement eID tags but are unsure about where to start. Ms Gorter helped run the Woolorama’s first Young Farmers Challenge last year, with eight teams of four young farmers aged 18-35 testing their skills and knowledge. The teams complete a series of farming-based activities and challenges, with the fastest to compete at the Perth Royal Show. Challenges included rolling up a swag, donning personal protective equipment, erecting a fence, rolling a tractor tyre and a theory component of identifying assorted seeds, with the winning team qualifying to compete at the Perth Royal Show. Now a staple at several regional shows, the Young Farmers Challenges are run by NextGenAg and spearheaded by the group’s WA representative Tiffany Davey. This year’s Young Farmers Challenge will be held at 4pm on Saturday, March 6, on the grassed area near the Wine Baa on Kitchener Street. To register, visit the Wagin Woolorama website.