South Australia's Narelle Zanker and the Northern Territory's Kelly Shotton have just been named the 2026 AgriFutures Rural Women's Award National Winner and National Runner-Up. Their stories are a reminder of just how much innovation is coming out of regional Australia right now.

For anyone working alongside rural and regional businesses, as we do at The Lucas Group, these two journeys speak to something bigger than individual success. They show what happens when people closest to a problem are given the backing to solve it.

A Teacher, a Dairy Farm, and a New Way to Connect City and Country

Narelle Zanker swapped the classroom for the milking shed, co-founding Dairy Adventures, an agritourism venture that brings city and country Australians onto her family's working dairy farm near Mannum, South Australia. Since launching in 2024, more than 1,200 visitors, from preschoolers to retirees, have walked through the farm gates, turning ordinary chores like milking and calf-feeding into hands-on lessons about food safety, animal welfare and where their food really comes from.

It's this bridge-building between farmers and consumers that earned her the national title. As Ms Zanker put it:

"So many people have become disconnected from where their food comes from, and once you get them out on the farm and show them what actually goes into producing milk, you can see the light bulb go off."

With her prize funding, she plans to extend that impact through virtual classrooms, so kids who can't make it to the farm in person can still experience the lesson.

From Paper Trails to Pastoral Tech

Up in the Northern Territory, Kelly Shotton took a very different path to recognition. As a station pilot flying thousands of kilometres over some of the country's most remote cattle stations, she got tired of watching water infrastructure get tracked (and lost) on paper. So she built Stationly (originally BoreWatch), a digital platform that gives station staff a reliable, trackable way to monitor that infrastructure across vast, isolated properties.

Named National Runner-Up, Ms Shotton's story is a good example of practical innovation born from lived experience:

"Everything used to be tracked on paper, and I could see how much time and detail was being lost along the way. This grant means I can now put real energy into developing Stationly further."

Recognising Rural Leadership at a National Level

The announcement was made by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Hon Julie Collins MP, at a black-tie gala dinner at Parliament House in Canberra, attended by more than 500 guests, including government officials, industry representatives, Award alumni and finalists' families.

Zanker and Shotton were recognised alongside five other outstanding finalists from across the country:

• Kristie Ivone – Founder, Boas Language Academy (NSW/ACT)
• Amy Vickers – Founder, Well Beyond Service (Tasmania)
• Angie Nisbet – Co-founder, FarmHer Hands (Queensland)
• Becky Dickinson – Founder, Veterinary Support Services (Victoria)
• Angela Teale – Founder, Starsite Australia (Western Australia)

Brianna Casey AM, Managing Director of AgriFutures Australia, said the Award continues to demonstrate the ripple effect regional women are having right across the country, describing Ms Zanker as someone who has "built a genuinely commercial business off the back of her experience as a teacher and her life on the farm."

Peta Ward, Managing Director of Regional Commercial and Agribusiness at Westpac, echoed the sentiment, noting that both winners "represent the very best of what we see across regional Australia, people who spot a gap and get on with solving it."

Backing Innovation Where It Starts

On top of the $15,000 Westpac grant already awarded to each of the seven state and territory winners, Narelle Zanker will receive an additional $20,000 and Kelly Shotton an additional $15,000 to further develop their projects.

Since its inception, the AgriFutures Rural Women's Award has supported hundreds of women reshaping industries from food and fibre through to technology, sustainability and community leadership. A recent independent impact assessment found the program's return on investment has nearly tripled since 2021, with 40 per cent of past winners going on to secure board positions, proof that backing rural innovation pays dividends well beyond the farm gate.

Applications for 2027 Now Open

If this year's winners have you thinking about your own idea, applications for the 2027 AgriFutures Rural Women's Award open Wednesday, 9 September 2026 and close Wednesday, 4 November 2026 (Northern Territory applicants have until Wednesday, 20 January 2027).

Visit the AgriFutures Australia website for eligibility details and how to apply.

If this year's winners have you thinking about your own idea, applications for the 2027 AgriFutures Rural Women's Award open Wednesday, 9 September 2026 and close Wednesday, 4 November 2026 (Northern Territory applicants have until Wednesday, 20 January 2027).

Visit the AgriFutures Australia website for eligibility details and how to apply.