WITH the Australian Young Farmer Challenge a common feature of agricultural shows on the east coast of Australia, peak body Agricultural Shows of Australia recently announced the winners of a grants program designed to support the rollout of the challenge across the country.
Young farmer challenges can involve a myriad of farming tasks such as driving tractors, changing tyres, putting out fires and erecting fences by teams racing against the clock and in front of crowds at agricultural shows.
The Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia's (RASWA) Next Generation Group was one of the successful recipients of the grants program, receiving $9000 to put towards infrastructure to assist the State's regional shows hold qualifying events for the Young Farmer Challenge.
RASWA Next Generation Group secretary Jack Martin said that without the grant it was likely many of the WA's regional shows wouldn't have been able to host qualifying events.
"This is one of the first initiatives we will look to run in the State to support the other regional shows in WA and youth groups," Mr Martin said.
"The ability to purchase items and infrastructure that's able to travel around the State means there are no overheads for them - they can essentially get a trailer full of gear, host their qualifier, pack it all up and then it's on to the next show."
Mr Martin said the Next Generation Group expected a handful of WA regional shows to host qualifying events for the Young Farmers Challenge, with the winning teams to compete in the State final at the Perth Royal Show later this year.
The next qualifier for the Young Farmer Challenge will be at the Dowerin GWN7 Machinery Field Days later this month.
"The Young Farmer Challenges at the Perth Royal Show will be made up of a bunch of different disciplines - there should be some fencing, some chemical safety, potentially some tractor driving and an obstacle course and a bunch of other things that would traditionally be common skills on a farm but in a competitive environment," Mr Martin said.
Thirteen agricultural shows and related youth groups across Australia received grant funding via the new Australian Young Farmer Challenge (AYFC) Regional Grant Program.
Agricultural Shows Australia executive officer Katie Stanley said the Australian Young Farmer Challenge Regional Grant Program required successful recipients to outline their plans for a sustainable competition in their local area or across their State.
"These competitions allow young rural people to take centre stage with their mates in front of the crowds at agricultural shows, while demonstrating the diverse skills needed to be a modern farmer," Ms Stanley said.
"Shows use this competition to entertain crowds whilst being an educational showcase of young people in agriculture.
"These competitions provide entertainment and crowd engagement as well education for the broader community about agriculture, food and more specifically, the role of farmers and farm safety.
"The purpose of the program is to support the sharing of knowledge, encourage community initiatives and promote community leadership."
The 2020/21 grant program awarded more than $75,000 in sponsorship which will support more than 40 competitions at shows around the country over the next 18 months.
