Agricultural
6 April, 2022
Weber wins big
The 2022 Pittsworth Show Society’s Rural Ambassador Belinda Weber went on to participate at the Darling Downs Sub-Chamber Rural Ambassador competition at the Toowoomba Show and was announced as the winner for her outstanding contribution to, and knowledge of, the agricultural industry.
Belinda, 23, has been surrounded by all things agriculture her whole life.
Having grown up on her parents mixed farming enterprise with beef and cropping at Rossvale, she has a background in producing beef cattle - an area she prefers over cropping.
Given her love for the industry, it’s no surprise Belinda has been involved in agricultural shows for a long time, having started in high school when she joined the Pittsworth State High School Show Cattle Team.
Upon graduating school, Belinda went on to study a Bachelor of Agricultural Science with Honours at UQ Gatton, and after finishing in 2019, was asked to join the Pittsworth Show Management Committee to fill the role of Committee Secretary, which she has now been doing for two years.
Outside the Agricultural Show movement, Belinda works at McLean Farms, and has done so for the last seven years, having started as an egg packer and collector straight after school and while studying at university.
Upon receiving her tertiary qualifications, Belinda progressed into a leading hand role and is now in administration, working across all six of their farms.
As if all those fantastic achievements weren’t already outstanding, Belinda said there has been a number of other things she’s done over the years that she’d consider her biggest accomplishments in life so far - all to do with agriculture.
She said some of these achievements include being Agricultural Captain at school, winning stud cattle junior judging events, which at one time led her to associate judge cattle in New Zealand at the Canterbury Show, and being a part of the intercollegiate meat judging team at university where she travelled to Rockhampton and Wagga Wagga for competitions and won or placed in some of the events.
Belinda has also started her own cattle stud, Belervale Charolais, which she still manages.
Given her plethora of experience and long-term participation in Agricultural Shows, it’s no wonder Belinda has gone on to be this year’s extremely successful Rural Ambassador - something she said she’s been wanting to do for a while.
“I’ve always wanted to participate in the Rural Ambassador competition, I was just waiting for the right moment,” Belinda said.
“I was asked to do it a couple of years ago, but I just remember saying ‘not yet’.
“This year I thought it was definitely time to do it.”
After deciding her time to get involved in the competition had arrived, Belinda entered and was named Pittsworth Show Society’s Rural Ambassador for 2022.
“I was the only nominee for Pittsworth, so I automatically went through,” she said.
“Once you win the local show, you go on to the Darling Downs Sub-Chamber Finals, which was held at the Toowoomba Show.
“In the Darling Downs competition there were four other people.
“There’s 19 shows in the Darling Downs region, but because most were cancelled this year and there’s many that don’t compete, just five people including myself competed in the Darling Downs Sub-Chamber Finals.”
The other four nominees were Louise Fitzgerald from the Toowoomba Show, Denise Ryan from the Warwick Show, Alex Peters from the Oakey Show, and Ben Westhead from the Crows Nest Show.
Belinda said the day of the Darling Downs competition was a big one, starting at 8am.
Throughout the day, she and the four other nominees went around the Showgrounds looking at the agricultural exhibits and getting involved by giving ribbons to place getters.
She also had the chance to spend some time in the commentators box getting comfortable on the microphone, have a look at the Darling Downs Sub-Chamber meeting, and complete a personal development workshop.
Following this, the Rural Ambassador nominees participated in an individual interview process in front of a panel of three judges - Lydia Burton (ABC news presenter for rural matters), Brenton Watterson (winner of the ALFA Young Lot Feeder of the Year Award for 2021) and Henry Roellgen (AgForce Young Producers Council).
During the interview, the judges asked each of the nominees a series of questions that were tailored to suit each individual, their areas of interest and their expertise, as well as some general interest and news related questions.
Following this, the awards ceremony went ahead in the Pavilion.
There, Belinda and the other four competitors had 10 minutes to prepare a response to a randomly selected agricultural related question before entering onto the stage and participating in the on-stage interview, conducted by Lawrence Sehmish-Lahey who was the 2021 Darling Downs Rural Ambassador.
Following the lengthy interview process, Belinda said she felt confident.
“I was really confident with the interview and I felt as though I nailed it afterwards,” she said.
It turns out she was right, as soon after she was announced as the winner of the Darling Downs competition, while Ben Westhead from the Crows Nest Show was named as runner-up.
Afterwards, Belinda enjoyed an afternoon tea at the Glenvale Room with the Showgirls, other Rural Ambassador nominees and prominent people.
Following the outstanding announcement, Belinda said she feels extremely honoured to be named as the Darling Downs Sub-Chamber Rural Ambassador for 2022 and is proud to represent Pittsworth.
“I love the support and culture of the Pittsworth community,” she said.
“I’m so proud to say I represent this beautiful town and now also the whole Darling Downs.”
Belinda will now go on to represent the Darling Downs Sub-Chamber at the Ekka at Brisbane in August.
Congratulations Belinda!
