The future of the agriculture industry is bright

Story credit: Alexandra Bernard, The Land

There are so many opportunities out there for young people and all the kids I have come across are chomping at the bit to have a go.

THE passion that young people show for agriculture is simply inspiring and gives you confidence the future of the industry is bright.

From local shows to youth expos there are so many great events and opportunities to be involved in and most of the youngsters I’ve come across are chomping at the bit to jump in and have a go.

Around the ring there are kids who have started their own studs at a young age and others who have dreams to, kids who have grown up living and breathing agriculture, while there are others who are attending their first show.

One of the first youth events I reported on was the Youth Hereford Expo at Wodonga in July last year where 79 young people participated in three days of education as well as paraders, junior judging and cattle competitions.

Watching the pee wee paraders there were a few tears as some struggled to get their heifer to move but with the assistance of their older buddy glee ensued as they continued around the ring.

One young girl, Elsie Stevens, who was the champion pee wee, paraded her heifer (who was quite a bit bigger than her) around the ring like an absolute boss and the smile on her little face was infectious.

I later heard Elsie proudly tell people which heifer was from her family farm and even though she was only young you could tell she’s going to have a bright future in the agriculture industry.

It’s through these activities and school agriculture farms that some young people get their taste of the industry.

Without these some would never have the opportunity to experience agriculture and it is events like these that highlight how supportive the ag industry is of the next generation.

At youth expos many studs send cattle for kids who don’t have their own to use, or donate a heifer which becomes the catalyst for a future breeder to start their own stud.

At a recent flock ewe competition a group of local high school students from the agriculture class came along.

The students were about to get delivery of their sheep ready for the NSW school Merino wether challenge and it was going to be a whole community effort with local farmers donating feed and helping out.

Many schools have their own cattle or sheep studs and it’s great to hear how involved the students are on the farm, how they pick which rams will go over which ewes, how they pick which animals to take to shows and then how they proudly parade them around the ring.

One example is Gunnedah High School’s Poll Dorset stud Gunndemar.

The kids involved in the stud travelled almost five hours down to Cowra to attend the Poll Dorset Youth Day in Cowra last year and they used what they learnt from that day back on the farm.

Speaking to their agriculture teacher, Brooke Cowan, afterwards she said the biggest thing for the students was learning how to junior judge properly.

“Having the opportunity to be taught by industry professionals and they’ve taken a lot from that and will use that for our show team here at school,” she said.

For some kids like Holbrook’s Annabelle, Harriet and George McCrohon they love their farm life. Their parents Will and Melinda told me they are always outside with their horses or the cattle and George was preparing his first steer to go to show.

I went to their farm to get a photo for another story and the kids rode their horses down the lane and we of course had to get them in the photo too.

There are so many scholarships, travel opportunities and real world industry involvement for young people in agriculture and many I have come across take as much of it as they can.

For some of these students that are not from an ag background use their scholarships as a way to help promote how it is possible for anyone to make their way into the industry.

Their plans of what to do with their scholarships and hopes and dreams for the future are all filled with passion and a love of the land, whether it be travel overseas or interstate to broaden their education or even write children’s books to promote where food comes from.

I can’t wait to keep telling the stories of young people in the agriculture industry and look forward to see what they do in the future.