Celebrating Women In Sugar & Ag Burdekin

Women in Sugar & Ag Burdekin Inc is a non-profit, non-political organisation with the aim to form a supportive network to unite and support all women in the agricultural sector.

The organisation has an executive committee comprising of President Frances Besterman, Vice President Lisa Pozzebon, Secretary Annalea Matthews and Treasurer Rebecca Love who strive to meet regularly to share knowledge of the industry, along with matters of interest for their members and community.

The drive for Women in Sugar & Ag Inc is to harness their contributions, of knowing how they feed the world, manage the environment and future energy sources, as well as maintaining biodiversity.

“Women make up more than 40 per cent of the global agricultural workforce, which makes it exciting for us to form a supportive network of like-minded women working in the Burdekin region,” President Frances Besterman stated.

“It is a rewarding feeling, being able to contribute to the support and knowledge of our beautiful and agriculturally rich region.”

From actively working on farms to industry partners, to simply being part of an agricultural community, the passionate focus of uniting women by building and sharing their knowledge base is vital to increasing understanding of all the various commodities within the Burdekin region.

This open dialogue is dedicated to encouraging all women to take a proactive approach in both industry activities and decision-making processes.

Membership is open to all women, with the organisation striving to facilitate networking activities on top of general meetings which can include field days, mill tours, farm tours, catching up with guest speakers and other events within the agricultural industry.

Finding the right information and presenting what is relevant about the regions’ diverse commodities are key factors in the engagement of the members.

A challenge the organisation has faced is the entrenched gender roles within the agricultural industry: “For our organisation to be able to facilitate women’s empowerment through knowledge, education and networking is just one way to start breaking stereotypes and achieving gender equality and balance in the agricultural sector,” Ms Besterman said.

Highlights from the past two years include the Regional Conference in 2022 – Uniting women from Bundaberg up to Cairns - as well as hosting numerous networking events focusing on mental health and technology advancements.

The organisation aligns with the mission of Rural Women’s Day which highlights the essential role that rural women play in the food systems of the world, promoting and being active in the discussion offers a renewed opportunity to commit to building on the vision of knowledge sharing, networking, and thinking outside the box, so that rural women everywhere benefit equally from their own productivity.

Women in Sugar & Ag Burdekin Inc would like to pay tribute to the incredible female figures spearheading the future of the agricultural industry.

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