Careers in agriculture, showing sheep and cattle and judging wool and both sheep and cattle conformation were the goals of the Junior Education day which hosted 210 students at Jamestown on Monday.
Of the 13 schools represented, most had show teams heading for the Royal Adelaide show next month with the education day a way to get early insight on what to expect.
Burra Community School student Jasmin Ross said the education day was interesting.
"It's given me a lot of knowledge and probably more confidence in different areas," she said.
"They've showed me a lot of different ways and there was new stuff this year compared to last year."
CC Cooper and Co director Seth Cooper presented on careers in agriculture and said he was in need of truck drivers and talked about the history of his operation.
Mr Cooper was involved in the introduction of the Junior Education Day and said it was a way to help promote agriculture as a career path.
"In 2019, there was a cattle education program being run elsewhere and they needed a new show society to support what they wanted to do, so they approached Jamestown because we were doing stuff and really enhancing the ag focus of our local show," he said.
"But most of us are sheep producers, so we tacked on the sheep program with it, which is probably now grown to being a little bit bigger than the cattle program.
"Both are equally important, but it is something we've decided to run with and we are all passionate about trying to expose more young people to employment opportunities in agriculture.
"(We want) to make sure that kids are aware that there is a lack of people moving into all sectors of ag and that the opportunities are real and substantial."
Australian Wool Innovation industry relationship officer Shannon Donoghue said it was a great initiative and, when she was in school, she enjoyed similar ag days.
"It's really great to pass on this knowledge to the next generation," she said.
"It's very important to really target the younger generation to try and get them through and get them trained up to pursue a career in shearing and wool."
Eclipse Cattle Services Duane Wilson, Balaklava, clips more than 100 head of cattle destined for the Royal Adelaide Show and said the school students in his sessions were keen to get on the clippers and have a crack.
"As a kid, no one ever wanted to teach any of us what to do, we used to always get told 'you need to watch and learn', so now it's our turn to give back now that we are the ones doing it," he said.
Kiara Stacey
Journalist for Stock Journal. Kiara was in classified sales at Stock Journal before joining the editorial team in 2021. Kiara completed a Bachelor of Communication (journalism) at Deakin University the year prior.
Journalist for Stock Journal. Kiara was in classified sales at Stock Journal before joining the editorial team in 2021. Kiara completed a Bachelor of Communication (journalism) at Deakin University the year prior.
