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Nominations open for the 2022 Agricultural Town of the Year Awards

Towns across South Australia have the chance to be celebrated and crowned 2022 South Australian Ag Town of the Year, with nominations for the coveted award opening today.

May 24, 2022, updated May 24, 2022
Last year's winning town was Kimba, with Mayor Dean Johnson (left) saying the town's fighting spirit shone through.

Last year's winning town was Kimba, with Mayor Dean Johnson (left) saying the town's fighting spirit shone through.

Now in its fourth year, the South Australian Agricultural Town of the Year Award recognises South Australian towns excelling in agricultural practices and the flow-on effect they have on communities.

Anyone can nominate their favourite town by simply visiting www.agtown.com.au

Last year’s winner was the Eyre Peninsula community of Kimba, which was selected from 59 nominations from across the state.

Minister for Primary Industries Clare Scriven said the program is an important showcase celebrating the wide range of innovative and world-class agricultural practices initiated and used across South Australia.

“Many South Australian towns punch way above their weight when it comes to either creating or maximising practical and advanced agricultural practices,” Scriven said.

“Our regions contribute around $29 billion a year to the South Australian economy, with agriculture playing a vital role through local employment and business opportunities.”

The minister said that with 27 per cent of the state’s population living in the regions, the Ag Town of the Year award not only recognised South Australia’s primary producers but also highlighted the importance of the communities that support them.

“These communities feed into the broader regional and rural social fabric,” she said.

“We believe it’s important to recognise the great resilience, creativity and strength of our regional towns and the award creates a perfect opportunity to do that.”

After winning Ag Town of the Year in 2021, Mayor of Kimba Dean Johnson said the small town’s fighting spirit made it a success.

He said that although years of drought were taking their toll on locals, the community worked hard to provide mental health services and overhauled its medical centre in a bid to attract new doctors.

“We don’t sit around and complain, we take action, in many cases funding and designing solutions to problems ourselves,” Mayor Johnson said.

Any town in South Australia can be nominated as the Ag Town of the Year, by anyone via the online voting platform.

The public will then have a chance to vote online for the nominated town they feel best helped grow primary industries and driven regional growth, with the five towns garnering the most votes selected as this year’s finalists.

The finalist towns have promotional videos and stories produced for them by Solstice Media, the publisher of InDaily. The winner receives a sign for the town entrance recognising their achievement, a community celebration event, and a feature in SALIFE magazine.

The Ag Town of the Year Award Program runs alongside InDaily’s regional news program and the winner will be announced at its Regional Showcase Awards in November 2022.

To nominate, visit www.agtown.com.au.

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