Agriculture student wins a swag of awards at cattle show

Thursday 16 February, 2017

A Year 11 Boarder at Pymble Ladies’ College has won a swag of awards at the National Angus Youth Roundup (NAYR), the premier event for young beef cattle enthusiasts within Australia.

Georgia Laurie, who hails from Moppy, NSW, has studied agriculture at Pymble for three years and is a passionate cattle show competitor. The 16-year-old travelled to South Australia in the January school holidays to attend the National Angus Youth Roundup, where she won two major awards, the Bulliac Angus Studmaster award and the Outwest Angus National All Breeds Heifer Show award, as well as the Intermediate Champion Herdsperson award and Intermediate Champion Junior Judge award.

Her prizes include an Angus stud heifer, a scholarship to attend the Tocal National Beef Cattle Assessment Course (in the September school holidays) and a scholarship to represent the Angus Youth at the National All Breeds Heifer Show in September.

Georgia hopes to follow in her father’s footsteps as a livestock breeder, and attributes her success at the NAYR to great teamwork, hard work and the dream team of cattle.

“I was very lucky to be able to work with a team of cattle from Bulliac Angus stud in Queensland, who trucked their heifers across four states to attend,” Georgia said.

“We have a great bunch of fellow competitors and we worked well together. It was long hours and hard work, but it was great fun.”

Pymble Ladies’ College Principal, Mrs Vicki Waters said the popularity of agricultural studies at the College has been increasing each year, due to growing interest in ‘paddock to plate’ knowledge and sustainability.

“As a College committed to sustainability, we believe the growing interest in agriculture stems from our students’ passion for environmental stewardship and knowing where their food and fibre comes from,” Mrs Waters said.

“In recent years, due to student demand, we have also established a Cattle Team as a co-curricular activity for students, both day girls and boarders like Georgia who wish to gain experience in cattle shows, including the prestigious Sydney Royal Easter Show, throughout the year.”

After completing her Higher School Certificate in 2018, Georgia hopes to take a gap year to work on a large cattle station before commencing tertiary studies for a Bachelor of Rural Science majoring in Animal nutrition.