SA will host the Australian Young Farmers Challenge final at the Royal Adelaide Show this weekend for the first time.
And the SA team from Eyre Peninsula will be hoping a home-ground advantage will get them the win ahead of teams from Vic, NSW and Qld, after being runner-up several times in the event’s five-year history.
The first Young Farmers Challenge was held at Crookwell Show, NSW, in 2009 and has since been a feature of many regional shows across the country.
In SA, it has been driven by the SA Next Generation Group and Agricultural Societies Council of SA.
State coordinator Andrew Hall, Manoora, says the aim is to encourage youth participation in country shows and revitalise them.
“Many country shows are in danger of dying so we need the younger age group to get involved,” he said.
“We have really tried to encourage the Rural Ambassadors or Next Gen members to run the Farmer Challenges and from there, they get involved with other things.
“There have been many friendships formed in the past six to seven years. It is a bit of fun with mates, but also serious competition.”
Mr Hall says the event is a fantastic opportunity to showcase agriculture to those in the city and promote career pathways in agriculture.
“With today’s climate, commodity prices and farming expanding across the globe, we need to attract the best to agriculture to remain competitive,” he said.
“Agriculture is such a important career and must be supported with young people. It has a huge impact on the state’s economy and the country as whole.”
Each team will comprise four members, aged 18 to 35 years, with males and females to be represented.
The EP team of Sarah Owen, Sarah Hurrell, Hayley Dorward and Sam Telfer won the right to represent SA in 2015.
Team captain Sarah Owen says it has exposed her to different skills in farming, such as throwing a fleece and milking a cow, but is also a great social event.
The national finalists will complete a 20-question quiz testing their agricultural, political and general knowledge to determine their handicap before hitting the main arena.
Every wrong question will attract a one-second time penalty.
The individual challenges will be a surprise on the day, but previous skills have included stacking haybales, firefighting, setting up an irrigation system and sculling an iced coffee.
The national final will be held at 6pm on Saturday, September 3, on the Royal Adelaide Show main arena.
The winning team will receive $1500, donated by the AYFC fund.
