ROB Weinthal, of Gunnedah, has been selected as just one of 12 people to participate in the Australian Future Cotton Leaders Program, which will see him work with the best and brightest in the industry from all around the country.
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The program is run every two years, and is headed up by Cotton Australia and the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC).
With a competitive field, not everybody who applied was chosen, but the selectors couldn't look past Mr Weinthal's background.
He is currently employed as an agronomist at Delta Agribusiness in Gunnedah, which is a role he has held since January 2020. But it is his position before that which likely would have captured the attention of the program's selectors.
The now 38-year-old spent 10 years as a private agronomic consultant, using his ever-growing knowledge to assist farmers, land owners and businesses all across the region.
Mr Weinthal has also been leasing and share farming properties for seven years in the Boggabri area, and has been growing irrigated cotton on those properties when water has been available.
His expertise branch beyond just cotton though, as he has also grown wheat, durum, barley, chickpeas, canola, mung beans and sorghum.
In terms of why he has decided to get involved with the Cotton Leaders Program now, he said it just seemed like the right time for him.
"It's a well regarded industry program, it can broaden your horizons, give you some leadership skills and personal growth skills," he said.
"And the time was right in my life, I had considered applying before but the timing was never really correct for me and now I'm just interested in doing it."
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Other members of the program range from as far north as Emerald in Queensland, and as south as Melbourne.
He said networking is something else he was looking forward to over the next two years.
"Within the industry you have a very broad contact base as it is anyway, and you have a lot of contacts in those areas, but it's always good to pick up more," he said.
"[It's good] To pick up new fresh ideas, different perspectives, different ways of critical thinking and assessment of situations."
Cotton Australia CEO Adam Kay said he was looking forward to working with Mr Weinthal and the rest of the participants.
"One of the great things about this flagship program is it empowers each individual participant to flex their leadership muscle in a way tailored to their strengths, while also binding the group of participants in a collegial, constructive way where they become a powerhouse of ideas for our industry," he stated.
"We immensely value our industry's people, and I'm extremely confident this group of emerging leaders will help shine a light for the entire cotton industry for years to come."
