SA Sheep Expo returns this week with a record number of industry up-and-comers hoping to hone their sheep skills.
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The youngest entrant of the expo is St Peter's College student Lucas Cech, Adelaide, who despite not growing up on a family farm, has big dreams of a career in agriculture.
After visiting a family friend's farm at Kapunda, Lucas got the itch for the industry, taking part in the SA Junior Heifer Expo and raising his own poddy lamb last year.
"I went up to my friend's farm and I liked working up there and I wanted to get into animal showing," he said.
"I got fourth in the showing at heifer expo and I enjoyed that experience so I wanted to keep going at the sheep expo.
"I want to learn how to manage sheep, how to show them, how to present them, how to put a harness on and just learn about them in general.
"I hope one day I can be a farmer or work in farming somehow."
Lucas will be learning the ropes this week with a 9-month-old Texel ram from Dlorrah Park.
The ram has Illawong and Newbold bloodlines and was bred by Dlorrah Park principal Troy Julyan.
Lucas' mum, Amanda Cech, said her son's love of agriculture was surprising but exciting for the family.
"He raised his little orphan lamb in our backyard in Adelaide which we got from our friends in Kapunda and he loved that," she said.
"Now he's been selling eggs from the farm and has raised enough money to buy himself a sheep and a cow that he'll have at their farm as well.
"They've been really supportive of his dreams and without them he wouldn't have known about the heifer expo or the sheep expo.
"The only way city kids can get any knowledge about agriculture is through these programs especially if they're not doing agriculture at their school so it's a really worthwhile experience for them."
Lucas said his egg profits were earmarked for an Angus heifer and a couple of Merino sheep.
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Sheep Expo chair Mark Grossman said it was exciting to have the event back in full force after years of uncertainty and cancellation in 2022 and 2020.
"We've got 142 entrants here which is great to have after COVID and they're across all age groups," he said.
"That's an exciting number and it's great to see first timers learning how it all works as well as people from sheep backgrounds."
Mr Grossman said across the three-day event there were a series of workshops and lectures on various aspects of the sheep industry from management, through to disease control, classing and handling classes.
"Sheep Expo is very important for the young generation because it gives the opportunity to learn about all aspects within the sheep industry and offer careers for later in their lives," he said.
"For the seniors, they get the opportunity to get public speaking experience, they learn how to present themselves and how to progress in their careers as well as learning how to help the younger generation.
"It's also a great tool for entrants who will go on to show at the Royal Adelaide later in the year."
Katie Jackson
Journalist at Stock Journal. Born into a journo family in the state's South East, Katie made the move to the big smoke to join the team in early 2022 after seven years spent at various mastheads in the regions.
Journalist at Stock Journal. Born into a journo family in the state's South East, Katie made the move to the big smoke to join the team in early 2022 after seven years spent at various mastheads in the regions.
