Teams of working dogs from Australia and New Zealand compete for this year's farm crown

This year's Cobber Challenge will feature of the work of teams and not individual farm champions as it has in the past to celebrate the teamwork which goes into running a farm.

There are teams representing every Australian state and New Zealand.

The new format recognises farmers often work dogs in teams, or pick certain dogs to do different tasks, like mustering mobs of cattle or pushing sheep through yards.

Now in its seventh year, the 2022 Cobber Challenge Relay will run from August 22 to September 11.

Farmers have nominated teams of two, three or four dogs.

Each day of the three-week competition, the farmer will select one of their nominated dogs to wear a GPS collar, to track how far, fast and for how long they work.

In previous years of the competition these GPS collars have produced staggering results.

Last year's winner, Victorian kelpie Amazing Jack travelled an amazing 697km in the first two weeks of the competition and he was never headed.

This year's competitors are:

Nick Foster of Boorowa, NSW - Koonama Working Kelpies incl. dogs Cracka, Drake, Scorcha and Bundy.

Olly Hanson of Corinella, NSW - Lost River Kelpies incl. dogs Jake, Bowie and Hex.

Sarah Richards of Coolah, NSW - Nerremen Kelpies incl. dogs Kora, Spud, Cash and Tank.

Georgie Constance of Binalong, NSW - The Young Guns incl. dogs Belle, Beau, Murray and Jess.

Darius Cosgrave of Tintinara, South Australia - Superior Wool Merino incl. dogs Jip and Boots.

Ali Hodgson of Greenways, South Australia - Circus incl. dogs Opie, Becham Floyd and Midi.

Jordan Flemming of Fingal, Tasmania - Redhead Kelpies incl. dogs Nuts, Claire and Nip.

Ryan Eade of Bodallin, Western Australia - Hill View Kelpies incl. dogs Flick, Millie, Tezz and Suzie.

Taylor Bird of Mount Somers, New Zealand- Hakatere Station incl. dogs Bruno, Kate, Tom and Moss.

Melissa Smith and Dan McKinnon of Skipton, Victoria - Anywhere Crutching incl. dogs Caviar Keith, Roy, Pip and Jude.

Dane Simmonds of Myrniong, Victoria - Parwan Prime incl. dogs Ruby and Tully.

Genine Jackson of Charters Towers, Queensland - Team Turbo incl. dogs Whiskey, Buck and Nick.

The results will be combined to crown the winning team.

Their data is uploaded daily to the Cobber Challenge website so fans can follow along with their favourite working dog teams.

Genine Jackson, a grazier representing Queensland in this year's challenge, has a special bond with her working dogs.

In 2020, Genine fell off a young horse, crushing three vertebrae.

She didn't know if she could continue mustering Brahman cattle on the family's Bodalla Station near Charters Towers.

But working dogs, trained to take a bigger range of commands, returned her independence.

MORE READING: See how Australia's farm machinery network has shrunk.

As she recovered and learned to train dogs in a new way, she was gifted a dog named Turbo.

"Turbo is the dog that trained me, then trained my other dogs. Dogs have helped me accomplish much more than I ever thought I could," Genine said.

Sadly, Turbo recently passed away and Genine has christened her team of two Kelpies and one Collie, 'Team Turbo' in his memory.

Nick Foster, a stockman from Boorowa, NSW, can't wait to show off how hard his dogs work - and play.

"They are a part of my family, and they love my kids. Every day they get off work, they go find my kids."

Nick's team 'Koonama Working Kelpies' is really a family affair. All four Kelpies are related. Cracka and Drake are brothers, with Cracka siring Scorcha and Bundy.

Representing New Zealand this year is 19-year-old shepherd Taylor Bird. His 'Team Hakatere Station' is made up of four dogs - two Huntaways and two Heading dogs.

For three weeks, the dogs will be scored based on distance, speed and duration of work per day with points accumulated based on daily activity to determine the winner of the Cobber Challenge Relay trophy.

People can follow the performance of their favourite working dog team at cobberchallenge.com.au and on the Cobber Dog Facebook page.