Darling Downs cotton farmer Stuart Armitage is regarded as one of the most humble contributors in agriculture and has been recognised with the prestigious Peter Kenny Medal.
The announcement was made by Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Minister Mark Furner at the AgFutures 2020 virtual forum in Brisbane.
The Peter Kenny Medal is awarded for innovation leading to profitability and sustainability. InFarm founder Jerome Leray received the Minister's Emerging Leader Award, which recognises professional excellence and leadership.
"These awards identify and support leaders and innovators in primary industry and I congratulate Stuart and Jerome on their success against a strong field of nominees," Mr Furner said.
"Mr Kenny is remembered as a passionate advocate for agriculture, rural education and regional communities across Queensland, as well as being a champion for educating new generations of producers."
For Mr Armitage, being awarded the Peter Kenny Medal was "a big surprise".
"It is not only for me, but this acknowledgement is about all the people who stood beside me and walked behind me over the journey," Mr Armitage said.
"Especially for my wife Maxine who has been by my side for almost 40 years."
Mr Armitage and his family have grown cotton for 27 years on Wamara, near Cecil Plains.
For much of this time he has been an active leader in the industry on the Darling Downs and given extensive guidance to the Australian industry with Cotton Australia and Queensland Farmers' Federation.
He has always been an active member of Darling Downs Cotton Growers Inc and was president from 2010 to 2013.
Mr Armitage also made an enormous contribution to the wider industry, including being a CSD trial co-operator for some 10 years; Monsanto co-operator evaluating the new Ingard and Bollgard traits and varieties; Member of Condamine Basin Irrigators and was CA representative on the Mining and Coal Seam Gas Advisory.
Are Your Bogged Mate? founder Mary O'Brien has worked closely with Mr Armitage over the years and described him as an inspirational, driving force.
"I think one of the key attributes of a good leader is that they inspire others to do things that they never thought they were capable of; Stuart encourages and empowers others to aspire to be their best," Ms O'Brien said.
"Stuart's passion and dedication to the cotton industry has been an incredible benefit to all. He has worked tirelessly to promote, protect and prosper the Australian cotton industry."
Minister's Emerging Leader Award winner Jerome Leray said to be named an emerging leader alongside Mr Armitage was a big honour.
"It is a great privilege for me and the team, and I hope I go on to to show great leadership like Mr Armitage," he said.
Mr Leray founded agtech company InFarm in 2017. It is an agricultural intelligence company best known for its drone-to-tractor solutions that help farmers control invasive plant species with precision.
This technology identifies weeds from drone imagery, which then integrates into farmers' existing tractors to turn on and off nozzles in areas where there are weeds or no weeds.
With a history in mining, Mr Leray had an understanding of remote sensing and saw its potential uses for agriculture.
"It basically set me on a path to create a system that would help farmers, and talking to farmers, one of the biggest problems was weeds. So along with my co-founder Dr Mehdi Ravanbakhsh we set about developing a product to solve farmers' weed problems," Mr Leray said.