WOMEN from across the Queensland sugarcane industry gathered for the 2013 Women in Sugar Australia Conference held at Home Hill last week.
"Seventy delegates from Herbert River, Burdekin, Proserpine, Mackay, Bundaberg and Brisbane heard from guest speakers including Queensland Rural Woman of the Year and mental health advocate Alison Fairleigh, Dr Rachael Smith from the Queensland Government's Paddock to Reef Catchment Monitoring Program, local nutritionist and health/well-being professional Marisa Pilla, and Ross Romeo from Community Response to Eliminating Suicide," Women in Sugar Burdekin chairwoman Helen Viero said.
The afternoon had the ladies participating in a workshop facilitated by Carla Keith from Queensland Sugar Limited and Terri Buono from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
"We have identified that women's presence is lacking in leadership roles in the sugar industry," Mrs Viero said. "The workshop was held to identify some activities the ladies would like to pursue into the future.
"Priorities identified included organising trips to other agricultural industries to see first hand how other ladies are involved in their industries, reviewing the objectives and goals of Women in Sugar, and participating in and using social media to network with other WIS groups and promote farming."
The second day saw attendees embarking on a bus tour led by the affable John Woods.
Participants visited the KFSU plant where the group heard from Gordon Edwards about the K-Fibre product, followed by a stop at Australia's only achacha plantation.
Mark and Joan Stoneman then hosted the ladies for lunch at their wonderful Queenslander, which was followed by a tour to the Ramsar-listed Cromarty Wetlands.
"The event was a great success. We received wonderful support from sponsors including Canegrowers, Queensland Sugar Limited, Sucrogen, ANZ, Bayer and many others," Mrs Viero said.
"Discussions indicated that next year's conference may be held in Brisbane. The Women in Sugar Burdekin would like to extend an invitation to all women involved in the sugar industry to come along to their monthly meetings as new members are always welcome."
The free WIS Burdekin meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month at Canegrowers Building, Ayr. Meetings start at 9.30am.