The old barriers that withhold a rewarding career for women in the agriculture sector are no longer there, but success will come for those who work hard.
That's according to Susan Davies, who has worked in the yards as a livestock sales support officer for over 10 years and is also the branch manager of the Wangaratta Elders branch.
Her day-to-day duties include helping process cattle, weighing them, scanning them, and the clerking sheets, among many other things.
She also runs her own farm breeding cattle, and says stigmas don't really exist nowadays, believing that if a woman has a sound a work ethic, then a good attitude from others will come.
Her own journey into the role had a solemn trajectory - one of her agents got sick and passed away very quickly, so she stepped in and kept the ship afloat learning the job along the way.
"So I single handedly ran it for a little while until I could get the right support down here to help me doing most things except for the auctioneering," she said.
"That was a really trying time, because we had sort of lost numbers and continued to try and retain clients but it's very rewarding and the community becomes like an extended family."
Ms Davies believes there is a wealth of female talent in her region working within the agriculture sector and the roles are there if you are willing to take them.
"We employ a lot of female casuals and there is another great stock agent - Kristy Taylor - up the road here who is amazing," she said.
"So I think those sort of stigma days are possibly over if you've got a bit of pizzazz, you're upfront and you know what you're doing."
READ MORE:
Ms Davies has encouraged many young people to pursue a career in agriculture and is keen to see more young faces in the stock yards.
One of those young people she has encouraged is her son Tom who is in his first years working as a stock agent with Elders also at Wangaratta.
"He's been in the industry in a school-based traineeship with another company who was one of my stock agents when I first started farming myself," she said.
"Tom has really forged his own his own way, and for a young man, he's done a heck of a lot in a short time.
"He was like a Jack Russell pup, sort of always in under your feet and always in the stock yard, so it was a natural progression for him."
The passion Ms Davies shows for many young people interested in agriculture in the region is clear.
She encourages anyone to take the steps as soon as they are ready.
"I just think if someone's got the dream, the goal should be to go ahead and pursue it," she said.
"You might eat a bit of dirt occasionally, but just get up and have another go if that happens because there are no boundaries, only challenges."
