Celebrating Rural Women - Carol Mumford

Huge congratulations to Carol Mudford, the 2025 Rural Women’s Award National Winner, for her incredible work with sHedway - supporting mental health and suicide prevention in the shearing industry. 

The AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award is one of Australia’s most respected programs celebrating leadership and innovation among women in rural industries. It shines a light on those who are making a real difference in their communities and paving the way for positive change across agriculture.

This year’s National Winner, Carol Mudford, has made an extraordinary contribution to the sheep and wool industry through her organisation, sHedway - a not-for-profit initiative focused on mental health and suicide prevention in the shearing community.

Carol, a registered nurse and experienced shearer from Dubbo, NSW, saw firsthand the toll that isolation, long hours, and tough conditions can take on people in the sheds. After losing friends and colleagues to suicide, she founded sHedway in 2023 to bring mental health awareness and support directly into shearing sheds across Australia.

Her approach - combining lived experience in wool handling with her professional healthcare background - is changing lives by breaking stigma and building strong, supportive networks in one of the toughest industries in agriculture.

Why This Matters to the Sheep & Wool Industry

The wool industry is built on people — shearers, wool handlers, farmers, and families who all play a part in bringing this natural fibre to life. Carol’s work through sHedway highlights that mental health is just as important as physical safety and production in keeping our industry strong.

By fostering wellbeing, we strengthen communities, retain skilled workers, and ensure the long-term sustainability of the industry that has supported generations of Australians. 

Why a Strong Shearing Industry Matters to Merino Country

At Merino Country, we know that the strength of the wool industry begins in the shearing shed. Skilled shearers and wool handlers are the heartbeat of Australian wool — their hard work, precision, and pride ensure that every fleece reaches its full potential. That’s why initiatives like Carol Mudford’s sHedway are so important. By supporting the mental health and wellbeing of people in the sheds, Carol is helping to safeguard the very foundation of our industry. When our shearers are healthy, supported, and valued, the entire wool supply chain — from farm to finished garment — becomes stronger, more sustainable, and more connected.

Celebrating All the 2025 Finalists

This year’s AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award recognised an inspiring group of seven women from across Australia — each driving innovation, wellbeing, and community strength in their own unique way.

Alongside National Winner Carol Mudford (NSW), we celebrate:

• Isabella Thrupp (WA) – 2025 National Runner-Up and founder of Prinking in Pindan, a clothing and fashion brand inspired by life on remote cattle stations in the Kimberley, designed for outback women and the realities of station life.
• Nicole McNaughton (QLD) – CEO of the Food & Agribusiness Network (FAN), strengthening Queensland’s regional food and agribusiness sectors through collaboration, innovation, and community-driven growth.
• Kelly Johnson (SA) – Founder of SPhiker, turning surplus or second-grade produce into shelf-stable, plant-based meals that reduce waste and add value to South Australian agriculture.
• Dr Mary Cole (VIC) – Soil scientist and founder of AgPath, leading the way in soil microbiology, regenerative agriculture, and biological farming to support healthy, sustainable food systems.
• Sarah De Jonge (TAS) – Creator of 1000 Hearts, a kindness-movement project that began as hand-stitched woollen hearts and has grown into a powerful initiative for connection, compassion, and wellbeing.
• Kristy Hollis (NT) – Founder of Women’s Business: Nurture and Thrive, providing naturopathic and holistic-health services to women in remote and regional communities, supporting mental and physical wellness.

These seven women represent the diversity, creativity, and leadership that continue to strengthen rural industries and communities across Australia. We’re so proud of them all and look forward to seeing what amazing work they do now and in the future. 

Our Connection to the Rural Women’s Award

At Merino Country, we’re especially proud of Carol’s achievement because the Rural Women’s Award is part of our own story too.

• Kerrie Richards, owner of Merino Country, was a finalist in the 2000 Rural Women’s Award for her work championing Australian wool and regional enterprise.
• Her mother, Sandra Richards, was one of the very first finalists in 1993, making it a proud two-generation legacy of women contributing to the growth and innovation of Australia’s wool industry. 

Supporting rural women, sustainable farming, and the people who make the wool industry thrive has always been at the heart of what we do.

Stronger People, Stronger Wool, Stronger Communities

We congratulate Carol Mudford and all the 2025 Rural Women’s Award finalists and alumni who continue to drive progress and resilience across Australia’s rural industries.

At Merino Country, we’ll keep celebrating and supporting the people behind the fibre - from the paddock to the finished product - because strong communities make for a strong future for wool.

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