The Sunraysia-based citrus grower is only relatively new to the game, but her impressive list of achievements has earned her a place as a 2012 Rural Women’s Award finalist, alongside five other Victorian women.

The winner will be announced on March 15 at Parliament House in Melbourne and will be awarded a $10,000 bursary to help support their leadership development.

They will then join winners from other states and territories as finalists for the national award, to be announced in Canberra in October to coincide with World Rural Women’s Day celebrations.

The 46-year-old mother of four hopes that, by being a finalist, she can get more women involved in male-dominated rural industries.

“I think for too long, men have borne the brunt of all of the hardship, and the family business is a partnership,” she said.

“And women have such formidable skills that just aren’t being used.

“If we talk especially about fresh produce, who does the shopping? The women.

“So they’re the ones who are far better able to tell the men what you should be growing, this is how you should be doing it.”

In 2004, Mrs Chapman bought Colignan Park, a 350-acre citrus farm, 50km south of Mildura, that she now runs with her husband.

She is also chair of the national peak body for citrus, Citrus Australia, and owns a book-keeping business.

“I’m quite new to being a grower and probably came in at the toughest times in the last six to seven years,” she said.

Mrs Chapman believes that to have a successful business, there needs need to be a blend of male and females.

“I love to use Dick Smith’s quote which is, ‘If in the next five years, businesses don’t have 50 per cent of their management team as women, you’re nowhere near as smart as you think you are,’ because he recognises the formidable skills that we can bring to the table,” she said.

“You can’t get a more organised person than a woman with the way we run households, juggle that, do jobs and all the rest of it.