IN a month Queensland will unveil the newest member of the AgriFutures Rural Women's Awards winners alumni.
Four Queensland women with a common passion for agriculture - Samantha Meurant, Elisha Parker, Kerrie Sagnol and Kay Tommerup - have been declared finalists for the coveted crown.
The winner will be named at a ceremony in Brisbane on March 25 and receive a $10,000 Westpac bursary as well as networking and professional development opportunities.
Ms Meurant founded the Rural Compass podcast. If successful, she hopes to use the proceeds to further develop a nationwide online directory to assist people purchasing or hiring from rural, regional and remote businesses.
Ms Sagnol would also utilise the benefits of an award win to develop an online course about understanding and reviving soil as well as researching how farmers abroad implement practices on-ground and then sharing the information via online case studies.
Ensuring farmers are paid fairly would be at the heart of work for Ms Tommerup, a dairy farmer passionate about reconnecting consumers with food sources and how purchasing choices make a real difference.
Ms Parker, who started the online marketing and advertising platform Cattlesales.com.au in 2016, would like to extend its reach by offering an interactive catalogue hosting stud stock, special sales and auctions aimed at boosting the national cattle industry.
"It's pretty exciting to be a finalist," Ms Parker said.
"This is a great award for anyone in the industry and especially for women in agriculture and because there have been some pretty incredible people recognised in the past it's just fabulous to be part of it."
State Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner congratulated the finalists and praised their aspirations to improve Queensland's agriculture industry.
The annual AgriFutures Rural Women's Award is open to all women working in agribusiness and rural and regional communities and supports and inspires the next generation of women.
