Mardella’s Reece Jerrett can be found most days working his humble job at the local supermarket.
On Sunday, however, the twenty-three-year-old was at the Perth Royal Show, competing in more ways than one.
President of both the WA Poultry Association and the SJ Food and Farm Alliance, the impassioned young poultry breeder stepped into a new role at the show when he was awarded the title of West Australian Rural Ambassador 2022.
“I was nominated to go to the Regional Finals,” Reece said.
“We go through a series of questions with the judges about our experiences in agriculture.
“You have to pick an important topic, mine was Urban Sprawl Impacting on Agriculture – very topical for Byford and SJ.
“I won with that topic, and all of the regional winners took their topic to the Royal Show, where we went through another series of questions with three judges, and we had to deliver a speech in front of about 150 people.
“That all happened on Sunday, it’s been a bit intense the last couple of days,” he said.
Ambitious and energetic, Reece says his passion for agriculture has been with him ever since his family made the move to SJ in 2008, running an agistment centre in the heart of WA’s most prominent equine region.
“We used to be a cray-fishing family in Mandurah, we moved to Mundijong to follow my sister’s equine passion,” he said.
“I’ve always been involved in agriculture since moving, through horses and poultry and things like that, this feels like a natural progression.
“I’ve been on the committee of the SJ Food and Farm Alliance since 2017 and I took over as president last year.
“The SJ Food and Farm Alliance is an agricultural society affiliated with the Royal Agricultural Society WA.
“We focus on peri-urban agriculture, protecting those areas in our region – the fringing rural areas is what we aim to protect.
“We run compost trials and pasture trials, as well as coordinate the weekly SJ Farmers Market and run the yearly Food and Farm Fest.”
Speaking of what’s to come, Reece is looking forward to touring the states agricultural shows to discuss the issues most important to him.
“Protecting peri-urban regions and educating local, state and federal governments on the significance of protecting those regions for local food security – I believe that is one of the most important issues facing the Perth Metro Area,” Reece said.
“This will give me a spot on the Royal Agricultural Society committee, where I can voice my concerns directly to council and hopefully have a bit of influence.
“I’ll be attending the National finals in Launceston next year, I’ve never been to Tasmania, so I’m pretty lucky that will be happening next year.
“Looking at the contestants and competitors over the weekend, I think agriculture is in good hands for the next generation.”
