Anyone lucky enough to have met Zanda McDonald will know how incredibly interesting – and interested in the world – he was.
I first got chatting with him when we sat down at a cattle industry event in the early 2000s. He was younger than me, but we had a lot in common, and that first chance meeting was the start of a treasured friendship.
I got so much out of every conversation we had – and there were many over the years, both in his home country, Australia and in mine, New Zealand – whether it was about the latest agritech innovation, an animal welfare issue, or how we needed to attract more young people into the ag industry.
He had a very inquisitive mind, asked lots of questions and had a huge appreciation for those who’d been before him, speaking often about the stories shared by his mum, dad and grandparents. This meant he had a great wealth of knowledge from the past but also a visionary outlook on where we needed to go to advance agriculture, not only in our home countries, but around the world.
He would speak up and talk with conviction about what he believed in, in a way that made people listen. He acted on his convictions, taking risks for progress, and portrayed the values that hold the primary production sector in such good stead.
The more we put our heads together, sharing new ideas and thoughts about our industry, the more we reckoned other like-minded pastoralists could benefit from a platform that brought more of us together for a yarn.
The notion became a reality in 2005 when I founded the Platinum Primary Producers (PPP), a forum I chaired for almost 15 years, for Australasia’s leading farmers to discuss ideas to tackle some of the industry’s biggest issues.
Zan was a keen participant, and his contributions, along with those from other key movers and shakers from the Australian and New Zealand ag industries, propelled the group to become the most prestigious agricultural forum in Australasia. It grew to a powerful collective of more than 150 members, which effectively built an agricultural bridge across the Tasman Sea to allow farmers from both countries to learn from each other.
Boy, it was tough for all members when we learned the news of dear Zanda’s untimely passing.
Like so many others, I felt his loss hard, I felt for Julie and their kids, and was just sad about the whole damn thing. Nobody’s had the same degree of effect on me as he has.
As I was contemplating all the things that Zanda stood for, I thought most about his passion to support young people in agriculture. We often talked about it, because we knew how important it was for the industry to back good young people, or we risked losing them to other pursuits. He’d always had this knack for identifying up-and-comers that he thought, with a bit of help, could go a long way.
That’s when the idea came to me, to start an award to honour Zanda that would attract the finest young people involved in agriculture across our two countries and support them to do their best.
After Julie and the McDonald family gave the idea their blessing, I took it to the next PPP conference and the members gladly showed their support by agreeing to become mentors for the award. Effectively, that opened the door to 150 of Australasia’s best farmers, who became the first of a growing cohort known as the Zanda Mentoring Group who would willingly offer guidance and counsel to every young award finalist that came through. And, so, 10 years ago, the Zanda McDonald Award was born.
While at the time I had an inkling of the type of outstanding people that we could attract and support, I have to say, my expectations have been blown away.
The calibre of applicants has been remarkable, and I’ve witnessed the careers of the winners being catapulted to new levels.
That’s largely due to their propensity to have a crack at things that will advance not only themselves, but our industry as a whole – and it’s underpinned by the confidence they’ve gained by being surrounded by a big family of mentors who believe in them and are prepared to help, support and guide them.
The cream on the cake has been seeing the great friendships and professional partnerships which have formed between finalists, creating an active and growing alumni network. It’s a joy to see those tentacles of support just keep expanding in new ways.
I’m particularly proud of the diversity among our finalists – people from different parts of the agricultural industry, with different backgrounds, skills and aspirations – all of whom share many of the values that Zanda held dear.
Of course, the award would not be possible without the support and generosity of many people – from my wife Lynnette, who was there from the very beginning to bring the award to life, to Zanda’s beautiful family who have also been involved from day one, our many mentors, bighearted sponsors, judges, board members, supporters and the team who has helped to build the momentum to turn it into the prestigious award that it’s become. Thank you for your time, investment and generosity of spirit over the past 10 years.
I’ve often wondered what Zanda would think of the legacy this award is creating.
I guess his initial response would be embarrassment that such a fuss has been made in his honour. But I do think he’d be incredibly pleased to see the young people who have come through, what the award has helped them to achieve and how it’s brought them together. He believed, as an industry, we needed to make sure young people saw agriculture as a great career move, and he believed in the power of working as a collective to drive change – and the award is allowing both of those things to happen. I like to think he’d be very proud.
Every time I see the logo of the award – the outline of an Akubra – I am reminded of what it means to me.
It may seem an obvious symbol given the iconic Australian hat had been a permanent fixture on Zanda’s head, but for me it’s more than that.
Back in 2008, I made the mistake of turning up to Beef Week in Rockhampton without a hat. I remember Zan dropped everything to take me to a shop, pick an Akubra out and have it steamed for me, so it was a perfect fit. It was pretty special. I felt like I’d joined the ‘outback club’.
Since then, every conference of the former PPP group – and now at our annual Impact Summits – I’d wear that hat onto the stage, I’d hang it on the hat rack next to the podium, and it would stay there for the entire conference, until I’d put it back on my head to mark the end.
I’ve still got that hat today. I feel like it’s become a strong symbol, not only of my friendship with Zanda, but the many friendships made – over the past 10 years, and those yet to come – right throughout the Zanda McDonald Award community.
Shane McManaway, MNZM Founder and Chair, Zanda McDonald Award