Karen Hutchinson from Griffith named 2011 NSW/ACT RIRDC Rural Women's Award Winner

Karen Hutchinson, an irrigated agriculture advocate from Griffith has won the prestigious Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation Rural Women’s Award for NSW/ACT for 2011.

Minister for Primary Industries, Steve Whan, made the announcement at NSW Parliament House during a gala dinner held in honour of the 2011 award finalists on 1 February.

"Karen is a strong advocate for rural women and primary industries. Her vision is for those involved in irrigated agriculture to go beyond resilience and demonstrate an ability to adapt and thrive in response to political and environmental change," Mr Whan said.

"Karen is a Senior Executive with Murrumbidgee Irrigation with management responsibility for water distribution and customers.

"She was formerly the CEO of the Murrumbidgee Horticulture Council and has strong links with this industry.

"In addition, Karen has been an active member of the NSW Irrigators Council, the NSW State Water Customer Services Committee and was a founding board member of the National Irrigators Council.

"Karen is a very worthy and outstanding winner of the 2011 RIRDC Rural Women’s Award, and I congratulate her on her success."

Karen has won a $10,000 bursary to investigate theories of change management and learn from other industries that have faced and managed change well.

Mr Whan also congratulated the runner-up, Sally Martin, who is a Sheep and Wool officer based at Young.

"Sally aspires to make a difference in the sheep industry by combining practical, relevant and up-to-date information so that producers can better manage risk and identify profitable solutions for their farming businesses," Minister Whan said.

"She plays an integral role in local, state and nationally significant Merino wether trials and Merino sire evaluations sites that provide genetic benchmarking opportunities."

NSW Minister for Women, Jodi McKay, said the women are also exceptional role models for younger women across the State.

"Karen and Sally are both strong agricultural advocates and have developed exceptional leadership skills at a young age. They are very committed to making a difference in their communities and industries and will be an inspiration for younger women in primary industries," she said.

Karen Hutchinson, Griffith

2011 NSW/ACT RIRDC Rural Women's Award winner

Karen Hutchinson is a Senior Executive with Murrumbidgee Irrigation with management responsibility for water distribution and customers. Formerly the CEO of the Murrumbidgee Horticulture Council, she has strong links with industry and has been an active member of the NSW Irrigators Council, the NSW State Water Customer Services Committee and was a founding board member of the National Irrigators Council.
 
Karen’s vision is for irrigated agriculture to go beyond resilience; to demonstrate an ability to adapt and thrive in response to political and environmental change.
 
Karen will use the RIRDC Rural Women’s Award bursary to investigate theories of change management and learn from other industries that have managed change well. She will translate this knowledge into practice to drive efficiency improvements in irrigation delivery. Her long term aim is to use this knowledge to support irrigated agriculture to meet the challenges of changing government policy and climate variability.

Sally Martin, Young

2011 NSW/ACT RIRDC Rural Women's Award runner-up

Sally Martin is a Sheep & Wool Officer with Industry & Investment NSW based at Young. She grew up on a grazing property on the Monaro and to this day remains involved in the family farm operation. She aspires to make a difference in the sheep industry by combining practical, relevant and up-to-date information for producers to better manage risk and identify profitable solutions for their farming businesses.

Sally plays an integral role in local, state and nationally significant Merino wether trials and Merino sire evaluations sites that provide genetic benchmarking opportunities. She also provides advice and support to individual sheep producers and grower groups on genetics, animal health, reproduction and general production issues. 
 
Sally hoped to use the Award to extend her strategic networks with public and private businesses to distribute a clear message of commercial relevance of the technologies and information that will make a significant difference to the sheep industry and build capacity by encouraging younger people.