Featured staff member Tanya Kilminster
When Tanya Kilminster marched into the Merredin office in the year 2000 and asked for a job, she had no idea that she’d still be here 18 years later and loving it.
Tanya’s achievements with the department are far-reaching and its little surprise she’s this month’s featured staff member.
Hailing from the wheatbelt town of Bruce Rock, Tanya started her career with a good understanding of agricultural systems and farming mentality.
With sheep farming as her primary passion, she worked as part of the Rangelands Sheep project from 2002 and was involved in research and development with the fledgling Damara and Dorper industry assessing production, nutrition, management and markets for these non-wool sheep breeds.
Tanya still considers providing industry with recommendations for the management of non-wool sheep breeds as a result of running sheep trials one of her greatest achievements.
In 2008 Tanya managed the Future Farm Industries CRC Enrich project at the Merredin Research Station, a 2.4 hectare site assessing some 4500 individual native woody perennial plants, about 20 different species, over three years for the management of poorer performing soils such as those affected by salinity, acidity or prone to erosion.
This national project culminated in industry recommendations for the Enrich species for growers to implement into their mixed farm enterprises.
Tanya also considers providing industry with these recommendations for species selection and management a major achievement in her career with the department.
Another of Tanya’s achievements has been her recent success in attracting more than $600 000 of funds for Merredin and Districts Farm Improvement Group (MADFIG) and the Far Eastern Agricultural Research (FEAR) group.
She has been working closely with these volunteer run groups since 2015, providing both with support in accessing funding opportunities and linking them with researchers and industry.
Tanya now acts as project manager for the new project ‘Identifying investment opportunities in the sheep meat supply chain for flexible adaptation of eastern wheatbelt farm businesses’, which is funded through the Agricultural Sciences Grower Group Research and Development Fund and administered by MADFIG.
This three-year project aims to assist decision making to determine opportunities to increase farm profitability, identify appropriate on-farm investments to improve production, connect to more strategic networks and understand existing and seek new markets.
Throughout the years, industry has recognised Tanya’s hard and high quality work with invitations to speak at and collaborated on symposiums, workshops and study tours.
She’s also made an appearance on ABC’s Landline to talk about non-wool sheep breeds and their management.
Tanya’s project manager Pam I’Anson said Tanya demonstrates innovativeness and creativity through all the work she undertakes and is organised, competent, motivated, empathetic and committed.
“Throughout her career Tanya has demonstrated exceptional ability to think through situations and reach sound decisions through a staged approach,” said Pam.
“Tanya undertakes a very important role of mentoring others and it is her innate ability that she is able to impact and develop others.”
With three kids and a private farm business to look after it’s hard to determine where Tanya finds the energy.
Tanya considers herself very fortunate to have been able to have a career in agriculture, work close to home and continue to work with growers in the region to promote and innovate the sheep industry and create flexible farming systems that are profitable.