SARAH Johnson, 20, is on her way to completing an agricultural science degree, as a stepping stone to eventually becoming a partner at her family’s operation.
Ms Johnson said she is in the final year of a three-year degree at La Trobe University in Melbourne.
“I’m finishing up my degree, and when I have time, I head home and help out, gaining skills that will help me be a valuable member of the partnership,” Ms Johnson said.
Her father David, and grandfather Max, currently run a cropping and sheep operation on about 3000 hectares in Hunter.
They grow a mixture of cereals and canola, and run about 1500 Merino ewes, the majority of which are joined back to a Merino ram, for a self-replacing flock, and the remainder to White Suffolk and Border Leicester rams.
Ms Johnson said she hopes to become more heavily involved when her grandfather retires in the next five years.
“I’ve always known that I wanted to go back to the farm, and I was told that I had to bring something new to the partnership,” she said.
“I wasn’t sure exactly how I’d do that, but I figured a university degree was a good place to start.”
She said she’s learned a great deal about the industry from her studies, and hopes to bring fresh ideas back home.
“I’ve really enjoyed it, the first year was pretty basic, but the second year they started to teach us about soil science, and animal nutrition, and things like that, and that was all really interesting,” she said.
“I enjoyed having discussions with lecturers about what’s actually practical, in comparison to what’s theoretically possible.”
She said participating in extracurricular activities is another way to gain experience and contacts in the industry.
“We’ve got a team who are competing in the National Merino Challenge this weekend, and to help, we ran a wool classing workshop at our property last week,” she said.
“And last year I had the opportunity to take part in a meat judging competition in Wagga, where we spent three days learning about the red meat industry, and then two days judging pork, lamb and beef carcases.”
She said she was selected by the coach to be sent to Brisbane to gain further experience.
“I was in a team of four people, and I was selected, because I think I was the most excited about the future of the industry,” she said.
She said she also obtained her wool classing certificate, as another way to help out on farm.
“I got my wool classing certificate so I could have the ability to class our own sheep professionally, and not get hit with the financial burden of not classing wool,” she said.
“I pretty much grew up in the shearing shed, so it seemed like a good idea to be helpful, and just another skill to have under my belt.”