With skin in the woolgrowing game, Kojonup farmer Neil Jackson's intentions on the Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) board are simple.
"I want to represent, advocate for and lift the voices of grassroots growers and ensure the money spent delivers tangible benefit to those," Mr Jackson said.
"Effectively that has been my catchcry all along."
Mr Jackson was one of three new directors, and the only WA representative, to be successfully elected on the AWI board at the company's annual general meeting last Friday.
He secured 98,168 votes in the election race, followed by South Australian Collinsville Stud Merinos principal George Millington and Victorian skills-based candidate Emma Weston, who received 131,051 and 128,084 votes respectively.
Fellow Kojonup wool grower and WAFarmers vice president Steve McGuire (34,398 votes) and Yass grower and former WoolProducers Australia president Ed Storey (74,401 votes) were unsuccessful in gaining a seat.
Mr Jackson is a third-generation woolgrower who owns Sunny Valley farms with his wife Sandy and son Sam where he oversees anywhere between 22,000 to 25,000 head of sheep, which is complemented by a broadacre cropping program.
He was "absolutely humbled" to have been elected, after what he described as a daunting and challenging process.
This was owed to the fact WA accounted for only 20pc of the vote, with the remainder falling in the Eastern States.
Mr Jackson said WA representation on the board was important to help address the challenges faced by the State's woolgrowers.
He said there was already a point of contact with AWI industry relations officer Jodie King, however it was great to have extra feet on the ground.
"I do not only want to represent WA woolgrowers, I want to represent all wool- growers," Mr Jackson said.
"I am passionate about the fibre and the fabric, so I am wanting to represent that at board level to see if we can get a few good outcomes for all Australian woolgrowers."
Key challenges Mr Jackson would like to focus on in his new role include shearing, fiscal responsibility, with reduced AWI funds, and attracting the next generation to industry.
"The average woolgrower age is, I would say in the latter half of 50-odd years," he said.
"I think attracting people to the industry can be driven by a number of factors."
These factors included bigger paychecks and the adoption of new technology, which Mr Jackson said young people seemed to absorb easily and weren't adverse to.
"I think youth is important and I don't think we can have enough young people in the sheds, going back onfarm and involved in the wool industry at every level," he said.
"Technology could be the main driver and there is a lot to learn from the grain industry.
"I know they are different industries, with different marketing aspects, but the attracting of youth is exactly the same, driven by financial gain, innovation and technology.
"There's been some technological advances in the way we handle sheep onfarm, with labour-saving devices, but effectively there's still a lot of grunt in sheep farming, so that probably hasn't changed as much as I would have liked."
AWI chairman Jock Laurie welcomed the new directors and said all three would make a valuable contribution to the company and the important work AWI does on behalf of Australia's wool industry.
"Their skills and experience will complement their fellow directors and I look forward to working with them," he said.
"I would also like to thank the contribution from our retiring directors who each served the company and Australian woolgrowers with distinction."
At the annual general meeting AWI chief executive John Roberts spoke of the challenging nature of the company's finances.
He said revenue had reduced significantly, as they shared the impact of lower prices with woolgrowers.
"This has forced us to re-focus and fine tune our targets and activities even further," Mr Roberts said.
"A number of projects have had to be discontinued as we redeploy funds to the areas where the business and the board see being most pressing.
"In simple terms, at the front of the supply chain we have competing land uses onfarm, and at the other end we know that consumers have competing fibre choices.
"Our job is always to work towards an environment where a wool growing enterprise stacks up compared to other farming pursuits and where a consumer can see and justify paying a premium to wear the world's most versatile and sustainable fibre".
