RURAL producers, researchers or just those with a top idea to better their community are being encouraged to apply for a Churchill Fellowship, with applications opening this week.
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The program offers people from the agricultural sector the opportunity to travel overseas and investigate a topic or issue they are passionate about.
Churchill Fellowships are a non-academic award available to Australians from all walks of life, with no formal qualifications required to meet the criteria.
Recipients receive fully-funded travel for four to eight weeks, and support from the Winston Churchill Trust, so they can spend time with international leaders in their field of interest, and then bring their newfound knowledge and ideas home to benefit their industry or community.
The application round closes May 1, 2023. Recipients will be announced in September 2023.
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Trust chief executive officer Adam Davey said it is an open invitation.
"We've had Churchill Fellows who didn't even complete high school, and who were in the early stages of their careers as farmers or researchers and advisers, with the Fellowship proving to be a life-changing experience," Mr Davey said.
Among them are internationally recognised citrus expert, Ian Tolley, from the South Australian Riverland; Victorian farm management and succession planning adviser Mike Stephens; former National Farmers Federation chief executive officer Ben Fargher; new AgriFutures Australia chair and long-standing rural women's advocate Cathy McGowan; Barossa Valley game bird producer Colin Beer; and South Australian wine industry trailblazer Pamela Dunsford.
Last year's recipients included Queensland gourmet mushroom grower Mickey Pascoe; South Australian pulse crop researcher Penny Roberts; Norfolk Island poultry producer Rebekah Gupte; independent Victorian meat and livestock sector analyst Simon Quilty; and Tasmanian aquaculture manager Shea Cameron.
The topic of focus is completely up to the applicant, with a diverse range covered by the more than 4600 people who have received Fellowships since the award started in 1965.
Each Fellow designs their own itinerary, however applicants are expected to have worked through the issue thoroughly in Australia, exhausting locally available knowledge.
Importantly, they must also demonstrate potential benefits to their sector or community, and be willing to share the findings on their return.
Aspiring applicants are encouraged to take advantage of a series of information sessions recorded in February, which are now available to view online via the Churchill Trust's YouTube channel here.
They include a dedicated session for people in the horticulture and agriculture sector hosted by former ABC head of rural, Leigh Radford, and featuring two Churchill Fellows talking about their experiences - NSW dairy manager, Dan Brown, from Moxey Farms, and grains researcher, Loretta Serafin.
- For more information go here.
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