![2013 Queensland Rural Ambassador runner-up Kerri Robertson, Goondiwindi, and 2013 Queensland Rural Ambassador Jessamine Crawford, Emerald. 2013 Queensland Rural Ambassador runner-up Kerri Robertson, Goondiwindi, and 2013 Queensland Rural Ambassador Jessamine Crawford, Emerald.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-agfeed/2036379.jpg/r0_0_1024_683_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
PROUDLY representing Emerald from the Central Highlands community is Jessamine Crawford, who was recently named 2013 Queensland Rural Ambassador.
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The Rural Ambassador award was presented during the Ekka and signifies young people who have a strong commitment to the rural industries and an involvement and passion for the agricultural show movement.
Originally from Yelarbon, Jessamine became involved in her local show as a young girl competing in equestrian events and has been with the Emerald Show Society for seven years.
“I treasure those memories as a child and what that gave me as a person and shaped me to who I am,” Jessamine said.
“I guess moving to a new town, you look back to your roots and what you know, so I decided to volunteer to the local show society.”
Jessamine points out that Emerald is a unique area in the agricultural field, enriched by the community’s broad variety of products.
“We have citrus, grapes, cropping, cotton, irrigation and cattle. We’re surrounded by an amazing variety within the Central Highlands community,” Jessamine said.
“The show is what brings all those individual sections of that industry together, and although it is big and a tangent population, we are a quiet, close-knit community.”
Jessamine is heavily involved with the Emerald Show as the secretary and coordinator of equine events, and this year managed the entertainment by marketing, programming and advertising.
A like-minded character and childhood friend, Kerri Robertson, Goondiwindi, Darling Downs, received the runner-up ambassador award.
Kerri is also the secretary of the Goondiwindi Show and has been involved competitively in a variety of events, such as showing flock Merinos, prime cattle and pasture competitions.
“We have a large competitor base right across from campdrafts to art entries and cooking, which really shows that Goondiwindi is quite diverse and we have a good culture to appreciate many aspects,” Kerri said.
Both Kerri and Jessamine are executives on the Queensland Chamber of Agricultural Shows (QCAS) Next Generation Committee, and share similar views on various community and rural issues.
“Kerri and I are fortunate with our show societies. We have quite a number of the younger generation involved in the committee,” Jessamine said.
“We try to nab the ones who show extreme interest and nurture them and get them involved.
“The best thing I can say to getting young people involved is to trust them, give them a job, fill them with confidence and give them the opportunity to carry out that job – if they can take it, they will make it their own, and that is how our shows will grow.”
Kerri and Jessamine have been working together on many networking opportunities and projects for each of their communities.
“We do hold events and try and motivate and feed off each other. All of our executives and members are motivated, agricultural-minded and willing to be of help,” Jessamine said.
“That’s probably the key to succession planning and moving forward as a show movement.”
Kerri said the Goondiwindi Show struggled a bit with numbers this year, as many families chose to go away for the long weekend.
“We have the largest sub-chamber with 19 shows altogether – mostly on weekend dates – so we really encourage our community to stay on board and support their local show,” Kerri said.
The Emerald Show runs during the week in June for two days, and Jessamine said they were pleased with the community’s attendance.
“Gate numbers were on par with previous years, and for the way our community is sitting at the moment, we are really struggling economically with the drought and the mining downturn.
“It has really hit the town hard and affected our community because we’ve had a lot of families leaving.”
Jessamine and Kerri both agreed that chain supermarkets’ power over farmers has become one of the most important rural issues of our time.
“I really feel passionately about encouraging people to support their local farmers and local brands and not shop at the chain supermarkets that continue to rob our farmers,” Jessamine said.
“This is a really important issue for the future of agriculture and the future generations that will be dealing with the problems it’s causing, so it’s definitely a high priority.”