The Yass Show Society celebrates Grace Armour as its 2022 Young Woman of the Year! Grace will go on to represent Yass as the Zone 3 Final of The Land Sydney Royal AgShows NSW Young Woman Competition, which will be held at Crisp Galleries on 25th February. The winner of that competition will then go on to represent Zone 3 at the Sydney Royal.
“I grew up on a 3000-acre sheep/cattle property at Bookham, 25 minutes from Yass, and have always enjoyed helping out on the 6th Generation farm,” said Grace.
During secondary schooling, Grace studied agriculture and primary industries, as well as showing various animals at country shows including poultry and horses.
While at University and then through COVID, Grace worked full-time in shearing sheds as a roustabout and developed a love and fascination for the wool industry. It also provided her with opportunities to talk to different farmers in the region about issues and their ideas for the future of agriculture.
Grace now owns her own 20-acre block, which has the foundations for an orchard already in place, and she hopes to expand this. She’d like to buy some cattle/sheep to create more profit from her property.
“As it stands, I spend a lot of time returning to the family farm to help out with work such as weaning lambs over summer and mustering sheep for crutching”.
As a primary school teacher, Grace is noticing more and more the lack of understanding or interest in agriculture with students.
“Our livelihood depends on the agriculture industry, so I believe it is imperative to teach future generations about it. This is why it is a goal of mine to bring exciting programs and activities to students in government schools, to engage them and possibly foster a love of the land and all the opportunities available through agriculture.”
Grace is excited about the opportunities that the Young Woman competition will give her, meeting like-minded and inspirational young women and celebrating their successes. She attended a Young Woman Competition development workshop in Dubbo last month (January 2023), in preparation for the Zone Final. Grace has been involved with the Yass Show for many years, especially the horse section for which she was a judge at the 2022 show. She feels it is important to represent her community and to showcase the Young Woman competition for future entrants in years to come.
