General News
13 July, 2022
Young ambassador wins state final
BOORCAN native Toby Fleming has stood out from the pack after the Junior Show Ambassador was recently named the state finalist winner at the Victorian Agricultural Shows convention.
BOORCAN native Toby Fleming has stood out from the pack after the Junior Show Ambassador was recently named the state finalist winner at the Victorian Agricultural Shows convention.
Mr Fleming was named the 2021 Junior Show Ambassador for the Noorat Show last December.
He was then selected as the south western representative for the state finals, in which three other junior ambassadors contested the title of the best in the state.
Mr Fleming said he was thrilled to have been named the overall winner.
“It was pretty overwhelming but also very exciting,” he said.
“It was rewarding because you don’t expect anything, but it is nice to be rewardedfor something.”
The state finals were held at the Victorian Agricultural Shows convention in Nagambie.
Each of the finalists underwent an interview process prior to speaking on stage at the convention, giving members of show societies across Victoria a glimpse of why the young ambassadors had been selected.
“At the dinner all four finalists did a bit of an interview on stage to introduce ourselves to everyone who was there, to give them an idea of why we were in the state final and what we looked at incorporating in to our own show societies, how involved in them we were and what we do on show day,” Mr Fleming said.
“It gets us more involved in building leadership and networking with people in the show scene, getting a better understanding of what could be incorporated in to ourown show."
“That’s the biggest takeaway, and I foresee this as an opportunity to gain a bit more maturity."
“We had the opportunity to mix in with the older generation, because a lot of the show scene is older people who have a lot of experience with agricultural shows.”
Mr Fleming had taken his love of agriculture, which began at the age of five, in to higher education where he aims to earn a career in the industry.
He is currently studying a Bachelor of Agriculture (Technology) at University of New England in Armidale, New South Wales.
“It’s been great, and I’m now in my second year,” Mr Fleming said.
“I’ve had a few things happen this year which has opened my interest in different areas of agriculture, so it’s been reallyeye-opening."
“The course is so broad and I’m learning so many different and interesting things, which I didn’t even know about before.”