AFTER much success 2017 Rural Ambassador Luke Hall has officially handed over the title to 2019 Make Smoking History Wagin Woolorama entrant Michael McKenzie.
The event will be held in Wagin on Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9.
Not only did Mr Hall win the regional competition for the Great Southern zone but he also won the State final and represented Western Australia at the national judging at the Adelaide Royal Show, South Australia, last September.
There he was runner-up against contestants from all States in an achievement that made the Woolorama committee and WA proud.
Woolorama has put increasing emphasis on encouraging young people to step up and Mr Hall’s inherent enthusiasm and knowledge of agriculture did the rest.
During his time as WA Ambassador he was keen to dispel the city perception that the farmer stereotype was that of an ageing man chewing on a straw.
Throughout his term he promoted a more accurate image that modern farmers were young, educated, skilled and used complex technology to help in many of their every-day decisions.
Mr Hall also keenly promoted the idea of telling the story of farming to school students.
Drawing on his wife Alex’s perspective, a primary school teacher, he could see a valuable opportunity to educate school children about the basics of farming and give them a background of how food production happened on farms.
Mr Hall said when the competition reached the national level it was not about an individual’s farming knowledge but about the vision they held for agriculture, their presentation and their ability to communicate with others.
Mr McKenzie, 22, is set to gain from his predecessor’s experience and already he is keen to promote issues close to his heart.
The former Darkan born and raised lad has a connection with Woolorama through his mother Maxine who was secretary several years ago and undertook the arduous task of updating the Wagin Agricultural Society constitution.
He attended the Darkan Primary School before finishing his education at Christ Church Grammar School followed by a bachelor in commerce, economics and political science at The University of WA.
Mr McKenzie is now city-based at the customer-owned P & N Bank in corporate affairs.
His parents farm at the historic lake side property Queeriarrup, south west of Wagin, and he is keen to retain his agricultural ties in the future saying even if he ever decided not to become a farmer in his own right, he could never imagine not keeping his connection with the farm.
Mr McKenzie sees Woolorama as a chance to attract city people and show them something about agriculture and rural life.
With many misconceptions about farming, Woolorama and country people had to welcome and encourage their city counterparts to the country where they could spend time and see and learn about farming practices.
But enticing people to the country meant better roads were needed.
Mr McKenzie said if people wanted to visit the country they needed safe roads and Albany Highway was desperately in need of improvement.
The number of trucks and the amount of traffic had reached the stage where he believed a dual carriageway was urgently needed.
Improving country roads is a message that Mr McKenzie is keen to promote during his time as Woolorama Ambassador and he hopes at least his young person’s message will start the important conversation of better roads to save lives and improve road safety.