Oli Le Lievre  00:04

G'day. I'm Oli Le Lievre, and welcome to GRDC in conversation. As we've traveled across Australia sharing these different stories of people involved in the Aussie grain sector. We'd like to acknowledge the traditional lands on which the podcast is produced and recorded. We pay our respects to First Nations Australians and use the art of storytelling to help us understand the stories of different people involved in the grain sector, sharing wisdom and understanding that they're going to shape our future. This series is a GRDC investment that takes you behind the scenes with the people shaping our grain sector, uncovering their stories, learning more about their passions and highlighting the projects that are part of their everyday our journey continues in Western Australia to meet some of the Southern Communities, the innovation through growers, advisors and people that are shaping the area in South West WA. So welcome to the conversation. In this episode of GRDC In Conversation, I'm sitting down with Gemma Walker. Now, what fascinated me at first was that the first article when I searched Gemma was that it said that she was a fly in, fly up farmer. For years, she was traveling from the West Coast to the East Coast, allowing her to manage her family's operation, while also working on the East Coast for different farming groups. Today, she's firmly at home in Western Australia, but she's definitely not sitting still. She's managing her family's sheep and wool property alongside her husband. She's advising on boards right across the country and looking at how Australian agriculture, and especially the grain sector, can be more sustainable and future proof.

Oli Le Lievre  01:40

We're back in Western Australia. It's the first week. Well, this is our first series, really, that we've kicked off in 2025 we're on the back of the Australia Day long weekend and Gemma, it's fantastic that you've made the time that we've been able to cross paths while we're in Perth. So welcome firstly to GRDC In Conversations.

Gemma Walker  01:59

Thank you very much. Ollie, it's it's brilliant to be here.

Oli Le Lievre  02:02

Now, you're no stranger to those in the GRDC, especially over here in Western Australia, but I guess Gemma, can you just give us a little bit of background as to some of the hats you wear today, and what brings you up to Perth as well?

Gemma Walker  02:16

Well, at the moment, we're up here, partly on holidays and farm business meetings to catch up with our consultants. I have quite a few different hats between industry and community roles. Some of those include being on boards such as rural edge Australia and Esperance Organized Primary Producers Cooperative, and also some local groups, such as being the chair of southern biosecurity group and being on the school board and PNC, etc.

Oli Le Lievre  02:48

Gosh, there's a few things happening.

Gemma Walker  02:50

Yes, there certainly is. And and I do have a long association with GRDC, from being a board member for three years and also on the western panel for about nine years, and I absolutely love the opportunity to work right across Australia, meeting growers and researchers and people within Extension in those areas to drive profitability for the grains industry.

Oli Le Lievre  03:12

And you've had the chance, obviously, not just to work here in Western Australia in different roles, but to get, I guess, that national context through boards, etc. But what is it about the Western Australian grain industry that you're especially passionate about?

Gemma Walker  03:21

I love being involved in the WA grains industry. I think partly because that's where I've grown up, I can also see that we're very innovative and willing to adopt new technology. And I see that right across Australia, in fact, through my role with Mallee sustainable farming as the executive manager, we had a lot of innovative practices that we were able to adopt through the research that we were conducting or and extension activities.

Oli Le Lievre  03:55

Now, when I was looking you up and you mentioned you've done a few different interviews with ABC and whatnot. But one of those interviews that popped up was 2013 and it was obviously in the mining industry, fly and fly out workers. Was something which is incredibly well known. You were a FIFO worker into Mildura for a role. So I'm so intrigued as to how that came about. And firstly, I'd love to know how did the opportunity come up? Literally, working out of Victoria, we really couldn't get much further away.

Gemma Walker  04:25

Oh, it was quite a funny interview. Actually, at the time, I was working for Mallee Sustainable Farming, having been tapped on the shoulder by by the organization to come over and run it. At the time, it was a strong Farming Systems Group, and they were obviously looking for someone with the leadership skills and and knowledge. And we expanded to become the biggest Farming Systems Group in Australia, with 2000 members. So it was such an amazing opportunity, and I wanted to do it at the same time as being able to farm so I'm very much a hands on person. It, and I I love to have the opportunity to be involved family business. And so my parents were still on the farm at that point, and so I would fly home for activities such as seeding and harvest and business meetings I could do via video conference or telephone, and then fly back to Mildura put my stilettos back on, my business suit, and and take off the RMS for a little while and and go back to the office role and managing the team, and also creating opportunities to bring in different partnerships. And that's one of the things that I really loved, that we could bring in so many, many different partners who would then help the growers to look at new ways to farm within their own area, and for them to share information with the researchers and people within the development side.

Oli Le Lievre  05:49

Lovely. I'm so, I'm gonna, we're gonna flesh this out for a little bit, because I find it fascinating to be able to manage that from a capacity point of view, but also being able to stay across what's happening in two very, very different geographies, but turn turning the clock back a little bit further, this opportunity to pursue agriculture. What is it about, AG, that drew you in, and Did you always know through high school that it was a pathway you're going to pursue?

Gemma Walker  06:17

It's a really good question. Ollie, I think as we go through high school, we often change in regard to what we want to do. I knew that I always wanted to be involved in agriculture in some way, and at that point, I thought that it would be in journalism. I always enjoyed going back to the farm during Muresk Uni breaks and being involved in our farm. And from there, it actually led to a number of different roles within the industry. So I worked in natural resource management five years connecting people within the Avon river basin of Western Australia through to a state marketing role with AWB landmark. And so I saw a completely different side of the business terms of grain marketing and also production inputs. And then from there into farming systems, groups so South East Premium Wheat Growers Association and so on.

Oli Le Lievre  07:13

and the opportunity then to head to Mildura. It was a shoulder tapping. Had you done a few different, I guess, professional development pathways up until that point where you'd become on a Yeah, had landed yourself on that national radar.

Gemma Walker  07:26

Yes, well, actually, I guess that probably was part of it. I was the national chair of partners in grain, and so I'd been working on a national level for quite a number of years already, and I had a very strong network across Australia, and so I always enjoyed learning more about farming systems in other areas and where their products were going and what they were trying to achieve. And so really was a natural move to go over to Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia and learn more about what some of their opportunities and challenges were, and then to delve deeper into the markets and the consumers needs. And I think part of that too was the international study tours that I ran for South East Premium Wheat Growers Association for three years, and then being able to share those results across Australia at the time, perhaps, did put me on a national front.

Oli Le Lievre  08:23

Yeah, absolutely, when you stepped into the role, was it Australia's largest grower group at that stage? Was that something that you established?

Gemma Walker   08:30

That was something that we established during my time there, and I'm really proud of that, because we started with about, it was about 400 members, I think, when I first joined, and we built it up to 2000 and within that, we had small grower groups as part of the overall network across the tri state region. And one of the things I loved was that they would share the information amongst themselves within the small groups, and we set up focus groups that were subsets of those, and then we could work with different researchers on issues that were specific to that geographical area and to the way that that land actually needed to be farmed to bring out the potential in it. So I think, you know, it was hugely beneficial to make that move to become a bigger group, because it meant that we had more, more partnerships that would then benefit the growers and other people within industry.

Oli Le Lievre  09:26

How long did that take? Like, if you go from from the moment you walked in to the business, can you run through? I'd love to know a little bit of a timeline. And even if you can turn the turn the clock back to some of those key decisions that you're making as you're going through.

Gemma Walker  09:41

It took us about three years, though, I would say, probably in the first six months, it was very much about building the partnerships and helping other organizations, such as the three natural resource management organizations to see what we were trying to achieve. Was it actually going to help them to deliver their own strategic plans. And once we had established that trust and we had that proven track record based on the excellent work that Mallee Sustainable Farming had already done over a number of years, we were then able to build it up, and my board members were all very knowledgeable and experienced growers, and we also had outside expertise from Melbourne and also over the river in New South Wales. And so we were able to draw on all of that. So it was starting to build a stronger strategic plan and and really driving toward that vision, and having the having all of the different parties on board that helped - that was probably about the first six to 12 months, and from there, we really started to build up into multi million dollar projects that helped, helped the region really to be put on the map, and then to extend that right across the three states, to work with other groups, and I think that's when we really started to gain traction. Because by working with other groups, sharing our resources and knowledge and and them obviously sharing what they had and their networks, that we could work together on much bigger projects that had a bigger impact and created more potential.

Oli Le Lievre  11:18

And so a lot of because, because, I guess, yeah, thinking of it wasn't about coming in and dominating it. It was truly collaborative and going, Hey, actually, we might have admin, project management skills and staff that you guys then don't need to go and chase that. So it really is about people playing to their strengths and organizations playing to their strengths to elevate everyone.

Gemma Walker    11:40

Exactly, that's right. And we were so lucky that we had the South Australian Ag Excellence Alliance and Victorian Grower Group Alliance, because that created a strong network, and we all worked really well together. So we would put up big GRDC investment proposals within their investment rounds. And there was a lot of efficiency in doing that, because by collaborating, we weren't all wanting different researchers and extension specialists to work with us individually, we could put out something that was a bigger picture with a much broader goal, to then deliver on what growers wanted or needed within those different areas.

Oli Le Lievre  12:20

And on the people front that obviously going from 400 members to 2000 I take it, there was a big growth in terms of the number of people that were working for Mallee Sustainable Farming, too?

Gemma Walker  12:30

Yes, definitely. We. We actually had a fantastic model. We we had a core group within the main office, and then we also drew in consultants where we needed them. So we had consultants who'd been working with Mallee sustainable farming for about 10 or 15 years before I even arrived, and they stayed as part of that team, and we continued to build our team. So it was quite unique in that we didn't have a huge number of staff in the one office, because we had to travel quite a long distance, and we wanted to have people locally based who knew their area really well. And it worked particularly well because they had their own networks, and they were situated within offices such as the Department of Agriculture, within South Australia, or within the DPI, for example.

Oli Le Lievre  13:18

That makes a lot of sense, because then again, you're actually infiltrating the organizations that you want to be partnering with anyway.

Gemma Walker  13:28

Well, that's right, because it was mutually beneficial for them to have someone from within our consultancy framework working within their office and sharing ideas and gleaning information from them so that that could then be fed into the much broader investments.

Oli Le Lievre  13:46

Makes sense. Being a FIFO farmer. What was that actually like? Like, if you were to tell me about a week or a month, what did it look like for you?

Gemma Walker  13:57

Well, I loved it because it was an opportunity to fly from one area to another and bring things back into perspective within that plane ride. So I used the plane rides to really do a lot of planning and work on both businesses, both Mallee Sustainable Farming and our own farming business. So I think if we looked at it, say over a two month period, I would fly home for part of that two months and do a chunk and then go back. And I also at the time. So, so my future husband also had a farm, and we still do have that farm. So on the weekends, I was also working on the farm in South Australia.

Oli Le Lievre  14:40

Really spreading yourself out?

Gemma Walker  14:42

Yes, exactly. That's right, as some people might have said, too thinly. I guess there's always a compromise when you are in a role like that. I mean, it was, was a very professional role within Mali sustainable farming. And I mean compromise in terms of, I dropped playing things like hockey and being a volunteer firefighter for that three years that I was over there, so that I could really focus on building up Mallee Sustainable Farming to be the best that it could be for the growers in that region, and then also having the opportunity to come back to our farm and work on our farm and be involved in the business and meetings as well.

Oli Le Lievre  15:19

Makes a lot of sense. It. And I love how you've kind of brought that into the conversation as well, because I listen to lots of podcasts as I'm traveling around, and in some of them, people talk about these different seasons and chapters of their life, and knowing that, yeah, balance isn't necessarily about being able to work for just eight hours and exercise for three and have family time. It's actually in these different I guess, waves of life, things happen and need to take different priorities. Talk to me about then deciding to leave Mali sustainable farming, and what changed, or what instigated that decision to, yeah, exit that business. Well,

Gemma Walker  15:57

the opportunity arose for us to take over my family's farm, which down near Mungalup. And so my husband and I spent at least 12 months well, we weren't married at that point. We spent 12 months with one of our farm consultants, working through the different opportunities, doing all the financials and deciding whether or not it was going to be the best move, because I absolutely loved working for Mallee Sustainable Farming, and I was there for three and a half years, and I felt that we were really achieving a lot together. I also knew that someone else could step into that role, and so I set it up so that someone else could easily step into the role. And we had a very good team who were all very capable. And I think that that's something as a leader that you need to be conscious of, that you always need to set it up for the next person so that they can continue to build on what you have actually achieved. And so from there, we moved we leased out our farms and sold some of the of the farms in South Australia, which was no mean feat, because those family farms have been in my husband's family for 100 years. So it's a big decision to move interstate and for my husband, who was involved in so many different industry organizations in South Australia and the eastern states as a whole, to then move over to Western Australia. So I'm really glad we made the decision to move back to Western Australia, because obviously my family are over here, but also because I love farming in Western Australia. I love the climate and the soil types that we have and the way that it's a very cohesive industry, and also that I could bring my knowledge and learnings from working over in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, back to Western Australia and share it with other people here.

Oli Le Lievre  17:55

When you say you love soil types and farming here to people, I'll say, on the east coast, in conversations, people kind of look at Western Australia, and they go, I don't know how they do it, but there is a incredibly innovative farmers. And can like, well, there are everywhere. But obviously, especially over here, there just seems to be something, I guess, yeah, geographically, it is quite a long way to the east coast. So being able to draw on those comparisons, how would you compare the two? And what is it about WA for you that yeah, really is keeping you here.

Gemma Walker  18:31

It's, it's a really good question around the soil type and the land forms, etc. I know that there are some places in Queensland and New South Wales where you could literally eat the soil with a spoon. So amazing, the chocolatey soils, and I would love to have those ourselves. I think the thing is, being an Esperance sand plained farmer, that we just know how to bring out the best in our soils as any as any farmer does across the country, you know you always know how to bring out the best. And if you're not sure or you want to tweak it, then you ask your agronomist or farm consultant, you know, what are other people doing within the region that you can learn from, so that you can then adapt and and ameliorate your soils to suit. I love the sense of community within the region. So it's not just about the actual land itself, but it's the sense of community and the opportunity. I think no matter where you go within Australia, people create their own sense of community and the way that they become involved. And wherever I moved, if we moved to South Australia, for example, and that's where we had stayed, instead of moving to WA, I would have still become involved in industry and the community in the same way it might have just looked slightly different.

Oli Le Lievre  19:46

And so do you guys still have the farming interest in South Australia?

Gemma Walker  19:49

Yes, we do. So we we go over there about once a year. So we're share farming part of it and leasing the other part. And it's really important for us to maintain that connection. And and see what they're achieving, because they're doing exceptionally well and changing changing the farming system slightly based on what they're learning over the years. It's a bit like the work that we did while I was with GRDC in that in a year where we might have had not much crop on 100 mills in South Australia. Five years later, we were producing a lot more. So it was just the changes in technology available and the adoption of technology. And I think that by keeping in touch with what the South Australian property is doing, we can see what improvements they're making, so that hopefully in the longer term, it will continue to be sustainable for them, but also be a good business proposition for us.

Oli Le Lievre  20:47

Yeah, I love that. So you're up in Perth this week as well, for what is part of, I guess, family business meetings can, can you explain to the audience a little bit about, well, yeah, your your business, who's involved in it day to day. But then also, how are you using advisors outside the farm as well?

Gemma Walker  21:06

So my husband, Dean and I are the main people within the business, and my parents are involved in the business as well. And so together, the four of us. So for example, this week, the four of us are meeting with two of our farm advisors, which includes our accountant, and we like to meet them with with them face to face, because even though they do come down to the farm, it's better when all six of us are in the one room, rather than some joining via video conference. Is just not quite the same and so, so we have this main annual review meeting every year, and then we'll go back home, implement things and have various meetings throughout the year. Also as part of our team, we have staff that come in, so two, team members who are there basically the whole year, except for their on and off, except for their holidays, etc, and their own commitments. And then we bring in seasonal staff as well.

Oli Le Lievre  22:10

Yeah, I love that. You also mentioned offline that that ability to bring in, I guess, backpackers and international workers as well, really brings some broader experiences to the table as well. What is it about, I guess, that seasonal and transient workforce that helps give you guys perspective in what you do.

Gemma Walker  22:29

I absolutely love having our international helpers with us. They bring in new ideas. So whether it's around their own production systems or how staff are managed, how time is managed, the care of equipment, different systems that they have in place on their own farms, and what they've learned by working on other people's farms. When we have our team meetings, we're always looking for ways to improve what we do, and we we look for that opportunity, because we know that they've got experience from elsewhere, from seeing other people's businesses operate really well, that then can potentially be implemented within our own farm business.

Oli Le Lievre  23:11

So how do you approach that when they're when they're coming in for, say, a harvest or a sowing period? How do you create the environment where it's going? Hey, look, yeah, we're here to listen. We know that your fresh eyes come into the business is actually a huge advantage. How do you create that environment to make them I guess?

Gemma Walker  23:27

Yeah, well, we start very much from the interview process. In fact, we're very upfront, and we say that safety is our number one and particularly having small children on our farm, our children are the number one priority when it comes to safety, and we want our team members to be really safe, and it's about setting that correct culture. And we also say to them, we're really open to ideas for improvement and feedback, and if they say that they're not happy to provide feedback as they go, then that's not something that attracts us to them as a potential employee, because I know that some people perhaps introverted and they don't want to speak out, but we say to them, we will give you opportunities, one on one, as well as within team meetings, to do that, to build their confidence, really, and their courage, that they can actually speak up. But we also say with safety, if you see someone doing something, regardless of who it is on the farm, that you just get them to stop and say, maybe we can think about a different way of doing it. So that's one way that we help to build their courage to step up and speak and say, "This is my idea. Maybe we can do it a different way." Also, we find that by having the one on one conversations, whether it's driving in the tractor when we're doing the first part of the induction process with them, or even just heading off somewhere in a ute, that's a really good time to ask them, what else can we do? Is there something that we can learn from what they've done? And we often have people who perhaps, nurses, engineers, mechanics, computer scientists, animal behavior experts, all sorts of different people from different industries who bring a different lens of experience and with their skill set, we can actually improve our own business.

Oli Le Lievre  25:14

How do we get more of that in Ag? Because, and I think this is something that when we look at several communities, it, it's this mesh of people from all sorts of backgrounds. We know that we need teachers and doctors and nurses and marketers and lawyers, accountants and all of that. How do we get more people like that into agriculture or even if they're already in our communities? How do we we as an industry, start to show them that actually they are so integral to where we are today as well.

Gemma Walker  25:41

I think it's by showing our passion for agriculture and our rural communities, if we can show that we love living in the communities and that they're an integral part of being in our communities and showing our appreciation for them, that that's a really good first step. It's also about providing opportunities for people to connect within the community. For example, I recently ran an event down at Jerdacuttup, and we attracted over 400 people to the Tom Curtin event, and everyone loved it. He played his music. We had the horses, and we had people from quite a distance coming. People who traveled down from Perth for the holidays, for example, came and they saw what an amazing place a small country town like Jerdacuttup  can be. And we also, as part of the volunteers who came in, I had people who weren't active on their farms, they have got other skills. And so we drew on those skills and really showed them that they are integral to our community by volunteering and being part of something they don't need to necessarily be part of, say the bush fire brigade, which my husband and I are involved in, they can do something else, maybe on a smaller level, for a particular event, and I think in terms of bringing in people with other skills onto our farms, say nurses or computer science people, that it's showing them that they have a great fit within our farm businesses, that they can learn something and love what we do and experience what it is to be on a family farm.

Oli Le Lievre  25:41

Absolutely, I was having a conversation with a mate recently. He's managing a property back over in Victoria, and he'd been looking for like an assistant manager for quite some time. And so obviously, like, I guess, the natural transition is as you go through the stage, as you end up, as you get to being a manager, you spend a lot more time in the office doing budgets and whatever else. And a lot of the time, well, generalizing, but a lot of the time, like, the true passion, is it, what's happening in the paddock, and being able to make those decisions and the office work. And him and I were chatting, and I was kind of like, well, for your assistant manager role, have you thought of maybe actually trying to find, like, an analyst, so someone who's worked for an ag business, maybe in the city, but is looking for, how do they mix that office space in a way, nine to five, but then still in a rural environment? And do, where do you like as a farm manager? Actually need to kind of redefine your role and go, Okay, I'm going to be across the budgets, but I'm not going to be the one doing the budgets. I'm not going to be doing the in depth analysis, but I'm going to be working with the analyst kind of thing, and nearly like, yeah, redefining how we view our businesses to then see who actually could come and be part of it becomes really powerful.

Gemma Walker  28:28

Yes, I think that's a brilliant idea, because there are so many things that we can learn from people who have worked in different roles, and it may be say for them, from the mining industry, they could be doing data analysis, or perhaps someone who's a geologist, and they're accustomed to analyzing the business and and looking at what the opportunities might be, and then bringing that into agriculture, I think they could actually work out really well.

Oli Le Lievre  28:55

Absolutely. And the other thing that is fascinating, while we're talking about outside of roles, like, you know how, in the big mining businesses, how they are often operating some of these trucks from Perth or Brisbane or whatnot, on this he's like, do we have an office room like this one that's actually multiple screens where the header and the chase have been operated by one person, or multiple tractors that are seating are being operated by one person? To overcome that, that challenge we have in labor, but also then to improve efficiency?

Gemma Walker  29:24

Yes. Oh, definitely. And I think that that will be a great question for later in the week, when you catch up with some of the guys around Condingup who are moving into automation and the opportunities for us in Australia in the future where we will be able to drive more of our equipment remotely, and for someone in the office to have that big picture view of what's going on and where, so that you're not relying necessarily on labor to come in for specific times of the year.

Oli Le Lievre  29:53

And not having these remote control sectors,

Gemma Walker  29:56

that would be great.

Oli Le Lievre  29:57

Absolutely, I know you. You're obviously involved and the runner up in the Rural Women's Award, but the and then various leadership programs, how have you looked at the professional development opportunities, and was there a point in your career where you actually, or when you first put up your hand to say and to look at going, all right, I'm actually going to really roll my sleeves up and become someone who can have a real impact in aussi ag?

Gemma Walker  30:25

I think it was actually a natural progression. I the first time that I really realized that was when my fellow students at Muresk elected me as the president of the Muresk Students Association. And that gave me an opportunity to be their voice, and to be on the board of Muresk, and that really skyrocketed me there into different roles as a director, and to have that passion for learning and to then be able to share that. And so I have put up my hand a number of times since then for lots of different programs, like the signature leadership program through leadership WA, which I completed last year, Northern Mallee Leaders program over in the east, and so many others that have given me that opportunity to learn more about myself, the other people within my industry and people from without the industry and what we actually need to be able to work together better as leaders and and everyone within the whole industry, because we we're all leaders. We all do something in a leadership capacity at some point, almost every single day, and it's working out how you can bring out the best in people as a leader, that I think really helps to drive the future of Australian agriculture and our broader community.

Oli Le Lievre  31:45

Is there something or an area that you're really trying to develop a nd yeah, work on today as a leader?

Gemma Walker  31:52

So one of the things that I'm working on is being more vulnerable myself, actually, because I was listening to a book this morning on my way here, and the author was saying that it's when you open yourself up and take your armor off that you can enable other people to do the same. So for example, within the leadership program that I completed last year, we all had to share our own stories of what we were passionate about what drives us to achieve what we want to achieve for the betterment of our industry and community, but also what has influenced us along the way. And sometimes it's something very simple in something that someone might do. So Oli , for example, you might have said something very small to someone, and that has had a huge impact in the trajectory of their career, because you never know if you say something or do something small for someone that opens the door for them. So so I guess that comes back down to empowering other people by being vulnerable yourself and showing courage, that you can do something and step out of your own comfort zone, because sometimes that's quite hard to do, isn't it that you that you don't necessarily want to push yourself outside of it, because someone might be afraid of failing, but if you don't try to do something and be your best, then you're not going to have that opportunity either way?

Oli Le Lievre  33:21

No, absolutely. And for for the people who may be curious, what's the book, the audiobook you're listening to?

Gemma Walker  33:28

Oh, so dare to lead by Brene Brown, gotcha.

Oli Le Lievre  33:31

Yes, a cracker.

Gemma Walker  33:32

It is. It's fantastic. She's done so much research into leadership and and the more I read about leadership, the more I want to learn. And it's not just leadership that I'm focused on. I also want to be a bit better director in terms of courses such as the Australian Institute of company directors. I've done a number of those, and the cooperatives and mutual Strategic Development Program which my role my spot was sponsored through cooperatives WA and CBH, so I was really thankful for that opportunity, because then I can share that with my fellow directors on the other boards that I'm on.

Oli Le Lievre  34:08

And there's something incredible like I'm I actually haven't been involved or familiar with leadership, WA, but in terms of these, I guess broader programs that are nearly inside outside industry, though, brings together really interesting and diverse, different people. So for instance, leadership, WA, was it just AG, or was mining part of that, as well community development, etc.

Oli Le Lievre  34:30

Yeah. So, so it was right across all of the industries within Western Australia, which is why it was so incredible. Because during the 10 months, our cohort really melded together. We learned a lot about everything from health, community, mining, agriculture was a key part of it as well. So many different sectors were looked at. We did a deep dive into lots of different topics pertaining to different sectors within Western Australia, we spent time with public sector Commissioner, the Commissioner of the police, for example, and had the opportunity to go out in into regional areas and delve into some of the issues. I think that there were a lot of benefits in spending the time doing the program with people from different sectors, because they brought in a different lens of experience. So, for example, we had one who was the head of medicine at one of the major hospitals, for example, and and you know, for the Metropolitan health right through to heads of community organizations such as Anglicare,

Oli Le Lievre  35:40

Incredible. That'd be bloody fascinating.

Gemma Walker  35:42

It was. It was incredible because everyone opened up and shared their stories about what they'd learned throughout their own careers and who had influenced them, and how they could then provide opportunities as a mentor and building confidence in other people to step up, not necessarily as a leader, but to be better in themselves, in a different way, through their own industry or or their role within community.

Oli Le Lievre  36:09

It's incredible. And like, I was, well, I was thinking about this this morning because, and I think, like, it's really interesting, and I'll be interested to get your take on it as well. But we we look at, we can tend to look at things in like absolutes. So if we, if we look at what's made Australia prosperous, really, it has been, it was agriculture for a period of time, and then it has been mining, and that mining Australia would be a very different place. But also, too, when we look at where we're starting to head in terms of reduction of emissions and the push into renewable energies and whatnot, but mining's still going to have a really important role. And it might, I guess we, we look at it through the fossil fuels lens, like when we, when I default to thinking of mining, but then in agriculture, like I was thinking about this literally this morning, going, well, actually, the oil companies and the fuel companies, there's such a huge and important stakeholder, because without them on board right now, like our industry wouldn't exist in the way that it does, and our ability to produce food and fiber would be severely impacted. And so, yeah, I kind of would love to know from the leadership program you did, what did you - what did you learn about, I guess having some of those conversations about that the perfect world doesn't actually exist, but it is about progress and evolution?

Gemma Walker  37:28

Exactly, that's right. And sometimes it's about compromise. I mean, in everything we do, if we learn, learn the best way that we possibly can deliver on something, and then potentially it may need to be scaled back for a certain amount of time as we continue to develop better and better technology to be able to deliver on the end goal. So for example, we we went up north and we spent time with one of the mining companies up there, and they shared with us what they were trying to do to reduce emissions. And I think that's so important to be able to share that information across the different industries. Because sometimes you might get a light bulb moment in another industry and they say, Well, hang on, we can adopt that technology, or this piece of technology, or even say the work that's being done into mining in space, you know, and the opportunities that might be created over the next few years. What sort of technology could we adopt from space to agriculture, or what can we learn from, say, the army in terms of how they're using algorithms and their data, for the Bureau of Meteorology, for example, to be able to be more accurate. And I mean, as a farmer, we all love to talk about weather, as most people do, and so it's just picking up, you know, that little gem of information from one industry, and being able to take it back, or to be able to connect people from one industry to the other. And think that's one of the real benefits from doing any sort of professional development, whether it's a leadership program or being a better director, or going and learning more about your soils. Any learning opportunity is an opportunity to connect people in a useful way so that we have better outcomes overall.

Oli Le Lievre  39:16

So as we look, I guess, forward over the next few years, you're you're still involved in many different organizations, you definitely do a very good job of threading the needle on farm and on farm and keeping the two intact. What is it that you're focusing on, and is there a particular area that you're looking to have a special impact in, or that you're just genuinely really curious about?

Gemma Walker  39:37

I guess my main focus is to make sure that we, we, when I say we, I'm talking about Australian agriculture and rural agriculture that that we're giving people the best opportunity possible to be what they want to be. And that's one of the reasons why I'm involved in things like our school board and PNC, because I want to give the students at our school and other schools an opportunity to be who they want to be, whether it's within agriculture or outside agriculture. Looking over the next few years, I'm planning to continue to learn through doing my Masters in Business Administration, with a focus on leadership. Just another just another thing. Yes, just another job to add to my list, continuing to focus on our farm business and driving profitability and making sure that we run well as a business and produce high quality grain and hay, that's going to be of benefit. And I really love the international connection and learning more about what our consumers want, and that's one of the highlights for me at the GRDC research updates every year to learn more about what we're doing as growers and and all the pre breeding and everything else, right through to our end consumers and and how the millers and brewers are using that. So I have got to focus on that as well, and to be more involved at a national and international level in opportunities for people within Australian and rural agriculture.

Oli Le Lievre  41:09

We need to make sure we put a search out and keep track of your name, because I'm sure your name's gonna just keep coming up everywhere. Amazing.

Gemma Walker  41:16

Yes, I just love to empower people to to be the best that they can be, basically, and and I think that being involved in different boards or different organizations at any level is a great way to do that, because you can ring really bring out the best in someone by being passionate about what you do and sharing your passion, no matter which industry we're in.

Oli Le Lievre  41:38

And agriculture is pretty good place today.

Gemma Walker  41:40

It is, it's amazing.

Oli Le Lievre  41:42

Before I ask one final question, is there anything else that you want to talk about?

Gemma Walker  41:45

One of the other things that I'd really like to do is to create stronger communities by creating a network, initially within my own region, and then across Western Australia and then nationally, where people have more of an opportunity to share what they've learned, regardless of what it is, but I think particularly around leadership within organizations and good governance and and then extending that nationally, so that people have more confidence to step into roles, so that community organizations, particularly, but also industry organizations, aren't always reliant on the same people, because, you know, it's often the people who are in the current leadership roles who put up their hand to do something because they do have the skills and confidence. But I think that it's important to nurture the next generation. And I'm not necessarily just focusing on the younger people coming into AG, but the next ream of people coming through who really want that opportunity to have a voice and to be able to provide input.

Oli Le Lievre  42:55

Which I think ties perfectly into my final question, because I really wanted to ask you something, because I know you've got a world of experience, but sometimes people can be their own biggest barrier. And imposter syndrome is is real for so many people. But what would be your advice to people who are, I guess, wanting to be involved, but their own worst enemy in the sense of they're not believing in themselves enough? What would you say to them about, yeah, getting involved and and having a go?

Gemma Walker  43:24

I would suggest that people that people just recognize their own values and their strengths and know that they can put their best foot forward, particularly if they've got the support of other people. So having a good mentor, or creating a mastermind group, for example, which is mentioned by Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich, that if you have a mastermind group, you can create a small network of trusted confidence around you who will help you to get wherever you want to be. And it's having that picture of where you would like to go and knowing how you're going to get there with the support of other people that will enable you to do it. So if, by setting a SMART goal around it and and having that vision and people that will back you or provide useful feedback that will give you the confidence to do it.

Oli Le Lievre  44:21

You've just given me a realization. There's a group, a small group of us that just have a WhatsApp group. And I've never thought of it as a mastermind group. I just thought that there's basically a bunch of industry associates, but we'd often check in every Friday and and go, Hey, what's what's been the highlight? What's something challenging you? Whatever. And so often in that mastermind group, where things were coming up that people had dealt with before, and all of a sudden, it was this outside perspective that wasn't necessarily part of our everyday, but it was just often enough to Yes, I guess, keep us on track and moving forward.

Gemma Walker  44:55

And that is such a perfect example Ollie, because you're all able to bounce ideasoff each other, aren't you, and and you've got that knowledge and experience and the trust within your group to be able to do that now, and I just think that's gold.

Oli Le Lievre  45:08

Gemma, thank you so much for taking the time. I know it's the Monday of a long weekend and you've got a busy week ahead, but I really appreciate you sitting down. And I think the the audience and the broader grains industry are going to be really interested to to hear more of your story, what you've done, it's remarkable. And so thank you so much, and all the best for the year ahead.

Gemma Walker  45:28

Thank you very much. Ollie and Happy New Year to you too.

Oli Le Lievre  45:31

Thank you.

Oli Le Lievre  45:34

Now we hope you're loving these GRDC in conversation episodes as we continue to roll on, the conversation right around the country. We would love for you to get in touch with anyone that you think's got a story worth sharing, interesting projects that are happening on their farm. Please reach out to the GRDC across any of your social panels. Get in touch with one of their team, because the grain sector in Australia is an absolute powerhouse. There is no shortage of people doing incredible things. So let's talk about it. See ya.