JANE Sykes, of Ringarooma, was one of 15 dairy farmers, three from Tasmania, to attend the 2014 Developing Dairy Leaders program.
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Leigh Schuuring, of Smithton, and Adam Blower, of Forest, were the other two Tasmanians.
The program, which finished last week, was developed by Dairy Australia and Australian Dairy Farmers and aims to build the leadership skills of people who are committed to the future of the Australian dairy industry and who have been identified as having the potential for future industry leadership roles.
The program started in March, with a five-day residential workshop in Melbourne with state and national industry leaders.
The next phase of the program involved a regionally-based project with the support of an industry mentor.
The program finished with two days in Canberra, where participants learned about advocacy and policy development at a national level.
Ms Sykes said that last Thursday they represented themselves and their dairy communities at a dairy industry breakfast at Parliament House and watched a bit of question time.
"Sitting in on question time was certainly an experience - it was all about the theatre, with calls from everywhere and I'm not sure it's something we can be proud of," she said.
Ms Sykes said that she also met Braddon MHR Brett Whiteley as well as speaking to Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce and Labor agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon at the breakfast.
Australian Dairy Farmers president Noel Campbell said the program played an important and unique role in supporting the development of the dairy industry's next generation of leaders.
"We know we have many talented and articulate people across our industry, and the program offers them the opportunity to use these skills and abilities on the industry's behalf," he said.
"It is encouraging to see a group of people who are passionate and enthusiastic about the future of the Australian dairy industry and who aim to build their dairy industry career into a future leadership position."
Ms Sykes works on the 600-head family dairy farm with parents John and Katrina and elder brother Jason.