The 20th annual Western Sydney University UniSchools Steer Challenge has begun, with students from Sydney high schools and TAFE coming together to learn about livestock, agriculture and ethical cattle handling with the Western Livestock Team.
The program offers a range of experiences for the students and capitalises on the rich history of animal production and knowhow at the university's Hawkesbury campus.
The teams of students are given the task of raising a steer. On August 14 they will converge at Hawkesbury Race Club in Clarendon for showing. They will be judged on how well they have raised, grown and trained their steer.
An awards ceremony will then be held on Friday, September 10.
Over the years, the program has proven quite rewarding, so much so that for one particular group of undergraduate students it was the catalyst for their decision to pursue animal science and agriculture degrees at the Hawkesbury campus.
"The energy and community I found through the UniSchools Steer Challenge made choosing to study at Western an easy choice for me," said former Oakhill College student, now second year animal science student Andrew Scarsbrook.
"I've made lifelong friends in this program. It has helped me understand the amazing opportunity that livestock agriculture can offer, especially when I look at how successful many of the careers of the program's alumni have turned out."
Beth Simmonds said that she found the UniSchools program the ideal platform for building her skills, knowledge and vision as a future agricultural leader.
She is now one of the student leaders in the Western Livestock team, who met recently with this year's competitors to give them an insight into what to expect.
Ms Simmonds will play a co-ordinating role throughout the challenge.
"I am so incredibly proud of my student colleagues in this program," she said. "We are a tight-knit team with a common goal of advancing experiences for students in animal sciences and promoting opportunities and innovation in Australia agriculture.
"Together with my fellow female colleagues, Tiana Pienkosz, Alannah Mills, Brittany Jones and Amber Gray, we advocate for women who see the same incredibly bright future as we do - opportunities to shape a new future for Australia's multi-billion livestock industry."