The top of the crop has been selected to compete for the National Grains Young Judges national title at the Melbourne Royal Show in 2024
Australia’s most promising young grains judges have been announced by Agricultural Shows Australia (ASA) as eligible to compete in the National Grains championship hosted by the Melbourne Royal Show.
This event for grain judging is part of the ASA Young Judges national championships competition that represents popular farming categories and will bring together the best young judges and paraders aged from 15 to 25 in each state.
Qualification to enter the National Grains title has already been decided in competitive regional and state competitions.
The national championships are held in a different location each year. This year, the event will be hosted by the Melbourne Royal Show at 9am on Wednesday 2 October.
Competitors judge three classes per competition, with a different grain type featured per class. They are judged on how correct their grain placings are compared to an experienced judge, technique in handling and assessing the grains, and oral presentation skills and clarity when justifying placings.
This event is sponsored by Lawson Grains and provides a competitive educational experience for young rural people. The competition will determine the competitor’s abilities to access grain quality visually, through handling, and in their oral presentation.
“As the sponsor of the National Grains Young Judges Championship, Lawson Grains exemplifies their dedication to nurturing the next generation of agricultural leaders,” ASA’s Katie Stanley said
“By supporting events like these, they showcase their commitment to the industry and inspire young minds to pursue excellence in agriculture,” ASA’s Katie Stanley added.
These are the competitors who will be competing in the inaugural Young Judges National Grains final at the Melbourne Royal Show.
South Australia Emily Chambers
Emily Chambers, 21 of Mitcham, will be representing South Australia. She is a graduate agribusiness consultant at Pinion Advisory, based in South Australia, and has previous experience in harvest grain receival and classification.
Emily first entered the grains judging competition at the Royal Adelaide Show in 2022 as a university student and this year has made the national finals. Today, her daily work is based in agronomy and farm business planning.
New South Wales Emily Taylor
Emily Taylor, 20 of Quipolly on the edge of the Liverpool Plains, will be representing New South Wales. She is currently a second-year Bachelor of Rural Science undergraduate at the University of New England and has ambitions in beef cattle genetics and meat science.
Emily has her own stud, Eclipse Poll Herefords, and is Quirindi Show’s chief beef cattle steward. Emily has competed in young judges competitions in a wide array of specialties including fruit and vegetable, grains, beef cattle, meat sheep and Merino fleece.
Western Australia Zoe Skinner
Zoe Skinner, 19 of Woogenellup, will be representing Western Australia as a dual contender at the national championships in both the grain judging and beef parading competitions. Zoe was raised and currently lives on a broadacre cropping and beef property.
Queensland Olivia Delaforce
Olivia Delaforce, 21 of Mt Beppo, will be representing Queensland as a dual contender at the national in both the grain judging and beef parading championships. Olivia helps run her family’s Santa Gertrudis Stud alongside working for a large-scale Speckle Park stud.
Tasmania Matilda Scott
Matilda Scott, 26 of Cleveland, will be representing Tasmania. Matilda hails from the Northern Midlands of Tasmania from a sheep property and works for Quality Wool.
After regularly competing in Merino sheep and fleece judging at her local show, Matilda won the national fleece championships in 2022.
This year, Matilda is testing her agricultural assessment skills to grains having worked in the grains industry working at XLD Commodities in Tasmania for the grain harvest for two consecutive summers.
Victoria Ruby Gow
Ruby Gow, 25 of Geelong West, will be representing Victoria. She worked at GrainCorp during harvest whilst at university studying a Bachelor of Agriculture. Today, Ruby is a full-time agronomist.
ASA national competition program
Overall, there are nine categories for judging and parading each year under the Agricultural Shows Australia (ASA) national competition program: beef cattle, dairy cattle, grain, poultry, merino sheep, meat breed sheep and merino fleece judging, as well as parading competitions in beef and dairy cattle.
“It’s an extremely prestigious event and positions at the nationals are keenly contested,” ASA’s Katie Stanley explains further.
“These young people are the future of agricultural show competitions which are crucial to the continual improvement of Australia’s food and fibre. The national competition is a coveted opportunity to grow personally and professionally by practising skills against the cream of the crop,” ASA’s Katie Stanley concluded.
National Grains Young Judges Championship will be held at 9am on Wednesday 2 October 2024 at the Melbourne Royal Show. Find more about the competitions here.
