Marieke Hoelscher

Marieke Hoelscher (L: Marieke Hoelscher) is from Jindera, near Albury NSW, where she moved at the age of 6. She was born in Germany where her family has been farming since the 1500s. In 2007, they moved to Australia and her parents bought a small cropping farm, as well as keeping their farm overseas. During year 12, Marieke started becoming more interested in food security and Australia’s rural industries and decided to have a gap year to work in northern Australia. She ended up getting a job at Uluru Camel Tours which started her passion for camels and utilising feral animals in Australia. If rangeland goats are becoming a valuable export commodity, Marieke wonders why can’t we do the same with the millions of feral camels running around our desert? A work placement with Camel Milk NSW in late 2021 further cemented her interest in the emerging industries and the role they can be playing in Australian agriculture’s job of feeding the world, while conserving our landscapes through sustainable Agriculture.

During her time studying a Bachelor of Agriculture at Charles Sturt in Wagga, Marieke received an AgriFutures Horizons Scholarship in 2022 sponsored by the Agrifutures Emerging Industries Program which has been an amazing opportunity to undertake placement with native bees, industrial hemp and insect protein!