An early love of agriculture that led Emma-Jane Lovell to start a cattle stud at the age of 18 has reached a new high.
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The determined shorthorn producer was named the 2019 Crowe Horwath Dubbo Rural Achiever at the Dubbo Show on Saturday.
Miss Lovell, 23, is now looking forward to nominating for the next level, the statewide Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Rural Achiever title in 2020.
The competition highlights the importance of youth-driven change and was this year won by James Cleaver, a Dubbo-based rural support worker who grew up at Nyngan.
Miss Lovell, the sole entrant in the emerging Dubbo competition this year, signalled her rural interests early in life, starting in beef cattle junior judging competitions at the age of eight.
- READ MORE: See all the photos from the 2019 Dubbo Show
"Then as the years went on, I started going to more shows and ended up out at Gulargambone Show and they run a little round robin competition out there," she said.
"So you have to do everything, and just had a crack at the types of sheep judging and the merino fleece judging and sort of got the knack for it and kept going in comps.
"That's probably the main thing, keep entering comps, the more you enter, the more you're going to learn."
Since then Miss Lovell has proved to be an all-rounder in judging.
She was 14 when she had her first foray in the junior judging competitions of the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
She continued to build her skills and had a number of achievements this year.
"I competed in the state final for the fruit and veg junior judging and actually took that title out," she said.
"But I also ended up with fourth in the grain judging down there, and third in the merino fleece junior judging down there."
An 18th birthday gift of a shorthorn cow propelled her on her dream pathway - owning a cattle stud.
I've had amazing people help me out with my stud with gaining animals, so it is pretty daunting, but I've had some good mentors.
- 2019 Dubbo Rural Achiever Emma-Jane Lovell
It was a big step, but she was committed.
"...it can be quite pricey and I've had amazing people help me out with my stud with gaining animals, so it is pretty daunting, but I've had some good mentors," she said.
A Dubbo Show Society administrative assistant since 2014, Miss Lovell is ready to embrace the opportunity of the Rural Achiever competition.
"It would be amazing to be the ambassador for Dubbo and for the agricultural industry as a whole," she said.
"It's a good competition to learn more about agriculture and get connections within agriculture and all of the different industries."
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Faye Wheeler
I have been a journalist for more than a decade and in that time I have been keeping Daily Liberal readers up to date about issues affecting them and what's happening in their community. Throughout my career I have covered a range of rounds and most recently I have been focusing on the business round.
I have been a journalist for more than a decade and in that time I have been keeping Daily Liberal readers up to date about issues affecting them and what's happening in their community. Throughout my career I have covered a range of rounds and most recently I have been focusing on the business round.
