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UNE graduate wins national ‘young executive’ award

September 05, 2006

BFargher.thumb.jpgThe Australian Financial Review’s AFR BOSS magazine has named 32-year-old Ben Fargher, Chief Executive Officer of the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF), among its six “Young Executives of the Year” for 2006.

A Churchill Fellow, Mr Fargher (pictured here) has a Master’s degree in economics from The University of New England (where he was a resident of the University’s Robb College) and a Bachelor of Agricultural Science degree from the University of Adelaide, as well as a diploma from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

He joined the NFF in 1999, and held the positions of Senior Policy Manager (Trade), Director of Rural Policy, and Secretary of the Australian Farmers’ Fighting Fund before becoming Chief Executive Officer in February 2005.

The six award winners, all under 35 years of age, were chosen for a range of outstanding qualities – including those of leadership.

Mr Fargher said he hoped his award would help to demonstrate that modern Australian farming was a “vibrant, dynamic sector”, and pointed out that Australia’s farmers had achieved a higher rate of productivity growth than any other sector of the national economy over the past 10 years.

He said that young people had “a bright future” in agriculture, and that many of them were “coming back to the family farm, bringing with them new ideas and technologies that embrace environmental sustainability”. “They want to be part of a growing sector that is renowned as a world leader,” he explained.

Michael Maas, Master of UNE’s Robb College, said he and the College had been delighted to hear of Mr Fargher’s award. “We are very proud of our Robb College alumni,” he said, “and the positive impact many of them are making at local, national, and international levels.”

Mr Maas said the College’s next opportunity to celebrate those achievements would be the annual Robb College Rural Focus Dinner and Lecture on Tuesday 12 September, when the keynote speaker would be Robb alumnus Tom Keene, Managing Director of GrainCorp.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the lecture, which is scheduled for 8 pm, but should book through the College office on (02) 6773 1700.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at September 5, 2006 12:59 PM