NSW lamb producer wins RAS Foundation-backed Nuffield Australia Farming Scholarship
The RAS Foundation (RASF) is proud to be investing in agricultural innovation by sponsoring Central West Lamb Producer, Fiona Aveyard as one of the highly regarded 2023 Nuffield Farming Scholarship recipients.
Awarded by Nuffield Australia, the Nuffield Farming Scholarships are designed to provide innovative agricultural leaders with the opportunity to travel the globe, develop their skills and connect with international experts as they research ideas to improve their business and industry.
Fiona Aveyard, from Central West NSW, is one such recipient who plans to help drive the future of the red meat industry by exploring value-add opportunities.
A 5th generation farmer and lamb producer, Fiona is the founder of Outback Lamb Pty Ltd, a business specialising in gourmet lamb sausage rolls, developed from their single-origin, pasture-raised lamb in a carefully maintained paddock to plate process.
“Farming cannot continue to focus solely on increases in animal productivity to achieve the increases necessary to best feed and clothe a growing world population,” Fiona says.
“I see a need for a reimagined business model where portions of our global value chains are unbundled to better meet changing consumer demand, particularly in regard to traceability, carbon-neutral production and consumer health.
“As Australian agriculture moves towards its goals of farm gate output of $100 billion and carbon neutrality (CN30) by 2030, I envisage a situation where more and more producers will integrate value-add components that incorporate manufacturing or processing into existing farm businesses.”
Fiona will receive a scholarship fund of $ 30,000 and plans to travel to the US, Germany, France, UK and Ireland for her studies, focusing on opportunities that include niche marketing, investment and mechanisation, as well as the potential impact on succession, population and jobs in regional centres.
As a Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) Meat Ambassador, Fiona also plans to contribute to the MLA’s objective of doubling the value of Australian red meat sales by 2030.
