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YOUNG LOT FEEDER OF THE YEAR

This Award embodies passion, leadership, development and initiative.

ABOUT

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The Award is designed to encourage emerging industry leaders to contribute their ideas and vision for lot feeding at a national level.


ALFA seeks and fosters qualities that empower participants to think outside the square, to be bold in their ideas and continuously develop and challenge their thinking about the Australian lot feeding industry and its future potential.

 

Young people who aspire to become future industry leaders are encouraged to apply for this prestigious industry award.

 

The Young Lot Feeder of the Year Award seeks to identify, develop and reward individuals who:

  • Have a clear vision for their pathway within the feedlot industry, and an aptitude for demonstrating leadership in the future;

  • Demonstrate initiative;

  • Are actively involved in their local communities;

  • Demonstrate an awareness of the challenges the feedlot industry faces, and a notion of how to overcome these;

  • Demonstrate an awareness of opportunities in the feedlot industry and how to best engage with these; and

  • Demonstrate a desire to further their personal and professional development.

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PREVIOUS WINNERS

 

1994 - WARREN SALTER, SANDALWOOD

1995 - ROGER MATTHEWS, MYOLA

1996 - MICHAEL DOYLE, BEEF CITY

1997 - GREG GIBBONS, ARONUI

1998 - JASON SHEARER-SMITH, SMITHFIELD

1999 - STEPHEN REYNOLDS, CHARLTON

2000 - GRANT GAREY, JINDALEE

2001 - TROY SETTER, KILLARA

2002 - GINA LINCOLN, PEECHELBA

2003 - ANDREW RUSHFORD, MIAMBA

2004 - GEOFF CORNFORD, WAINUI

2005 - SCOTT MCDOUALL, CHARLTON 

2006 - SHANE BULLOCK, JINDALEE 

2007 - BRIANA DALY, CHARLTON

2008 - WILL MCCROHON, PRIME CITY

2009 - MATTHEW LUHRS, MUNGINDI

2010 - DAVID MACONOCHIE, HOPKINS RIVER

2011 - NICK CHAMBERS, RIVERINA BEEF

2012 - JORDAN PEACH, GRASSDALE

2013 - STEPHEN MARTIN, KILLARA

2014 - EMILY PERKINS, PRIME CITY

2015 - ANDREW SLACK, SMITHFIELD

2016 - EMILY POLLOCK, GUNNEE

2017 - THOMAS GREEN, IRANDA

2018 - BEN ATTEWELL, ACC BRINDLEY PARK

2019 - BEN EMERY, RANGERS VALLEY

2020 - MOLLY SAGE, JBS BEEF CITY

2021 - JAMES GUEST, SMITHFIELD CATTLE CO - SAPPHIRE

2022 - KAILEN HODGSON, SMITHFIELD CATTLE CO - SMITHFIELD

2023 - TIM BRENNAN, WHYALLA BEEF

 

 

Check out these stories from previous Grand Finalists:

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ENTRY CRITERIA

 

To be eligible for entry, applicants must:

  • Be 35 years or younger as at 31st December in the current year.

  • Be employed at a feedlot that is a current financial Member of the Australian Lot Feeders’ Association.

  • Have completed all sections of the entry form and provided all necessary documents.

  • Six finalists will be selected to be interviewed in Sydney in August by the Award Judging Panel with applicants travel expenses arranged and funded by ALFA – one return flight per person from their nominated nearest regional centre or city, overnight accommodation and meals.

  • The selected six finalists must be available to travel to Sydney (or attend via zoom if necessary).

  • Three Grand Finalists will be invited to the ALFA Annual Conference in October for the winner announcement. Event registration fees, return airfares and accommodation for Grand Finalists are covered by ALFA.

  • Agree to be a part of the promotion of the Award.

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To enter, you need to complete and submit the following:

  • Fill out the online entry form below and submit before the close date.

  • Upload a typed essay (up to 1,000 words) outlining an industry problem (perceived or real), discussing its implications to the feedlot industry, and exploring a proposed solution.

  • Upload your Resume.

  • Upload a short letter of endorsement from your Manager.

  • Upload your headshot, for use in Award promotional activities.​

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JUDGING ROUNDS & WEIGHTINGS​

 

ROUND ONE: (non-weighted)

The Preliminary Round of Judging consists of all judges independently reviewing completed applications online and providing scores against the 5 weighted criteria outlined below. All judges’ scores will be tallied by ALFA with the highest scoring 6 applicants progressing to the Second Round of Judging and become Finalists.
 

  1. Desire to win the Award and Prizes (15%)

  2. Merit of past achievements in the cattle feedlot industry (35%)

  3. Likelihood of achieving further in the cattle feedlot industry (30%)

  4. Practicality of the submitted solution to a real, or perceived, industry problem; does it have industry wide application/benefits (10%)

  5. Accompanying comments by the Feedlot Manager or Company Director (10%)

 

ROUND TWO: (70% weighting)

The Second Round of Judging takes place in Sydney during the August ALFA Board Meeting. A maximum of 3 Finalists will progress to the Final Round of Judging to become Grand Finalists based on the top 3 scoring candidates from the weighted scoring criteria applied below:
 

  1. Preparation & Organisation (10%)

  2. Professionalism (10%)

  3. How much further the applicant built on their initial idea (10%)

  4. How much further effort the applicant put into reviewing and refining their solution (10%)

  5. Enthusiasm for the future of the feedlot industry and the role applicant will play in its development (20%)

  6. Value of how the applicant proposes to use the $5,000 prize money towards industry and/or the individual’s career progression (20%)

  7. Enthusiasm for participating in the ARLF's TRAIL program (20%)

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ROUND THREE: (30% weighting)

The Final Round of Judging takes place online. The final round involves the grand finalists producing a 1.5-minute video on their essay topic and themselves for the judges to score. This video will also be published on ALFA’s YouTube channel and shown at ALFA’s Annual Conference in the lead up to the presentation of the winner.

 

Round 2 (70% weighting) & Round 3 (30% weighting) Scores are tallied and accumulated between rounds to reveal the overall winner. Scores are not provided to judges so as not to potentially bias scoring between rounds.

 

A maximum of one Grand Finalist will be named the Overall Award Winner on stage at the BeefEx Conference. 

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PRIZES
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FINALISTS

  • Six Finalists are flown to Sydney for the second round of judging. Included in the prize are flights, accommodation, training materials and a networking dinner with the ALFA Board.


GRAND FINALISTS

  • Three Grand Finalists are flown to the ALFA Conference in October for the presentation of the Overall Winner.  Included in the prize are flights, accommodation and registration.

  • Provided training in professional presentations and creating engaging content around story-telling.


OVERALL WINNER

  • Your name is added to the Award perpetual trophy and you receive a keepsake trophy.

  • Funding towards undertaking a professional development course or overseas study trip, to the value of $5,000.

  • A scholarship to attend the next Australian Rural Leadership Foundation’s TRAIL: for emerging leaders program valued at $11,550. 
     

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KEY DATES

 

  • Entries Open: May 1

  • Entries Close: June 30

  • Finalists Announced: July 

  • Second Round Judging: August 21, Sydney NSW

  • Grand Finalists Announced: September 

  • Overall Winner Awarded: ALFA BeefEx Conference, 15-17 October, Brisbane QLD

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ENTER

 

To enter, submit the online entry form below with your supporting documents before the close date.

Young Lot Feeder of the Year
Entry Form

Upload Resume
Upload Letter of Endorsement
Upload Headshot Image
Upload Essay

Thank you for entering the ALFA Young Lot Feeder of the Year Award, proudly sponsored by Performance Feeds. ALFA will be in touch soon to confirm your entry. ​If you have any questions, please contact ALFA at: awards@feedlots.com.au or (02) 9290 3700

With thanks to our Platinum Member Sponsor
Performance Feeds.jpg

YOUNG LOT FEEDER UPDATES​

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