Jill helping future of ag to shine

This article is branded content for Herefords Australia.

When Jill Burgess wakes up each day, she feels very lucky.

And whether she is spending her day teaching students about handling cattle or researching finishing in feedlots, she reckons she is pretty blessed to be doing what she loves.

Jill, 24, is dedicated to making sure young people get the chance to learn about agriculture and, hopefully, make a career out of it.

And this dedication, as well as her research, has earned her the Herefords Australia Emerging Leaders Award, as well as the Feedlot Cattle Production Scholarship through the University of Sydney.

She has also been awarded the Christian Rowe Thornett Stipend Scholarship from the Sydney Institute of Agriculture.

But she isn't stopping there - she is also interested in starting her own Poll Hereford stud.

Jill grew up in Sydney, but her family always owned a farm.

Their farm was originally at Tenterfield, but now their family property Pakalaki is at Retreat, an hour north of Tamworth. NSW.

Her family used to run Angus and Hereford cattle, but after the drought and bushfires, they have started from scratch, and have a bit of a mixed bag of breeds.

"We have Droughtmaster, Herefords, Angus and Shorthorns. It's a bit of liquorice allsorts," she said.

Jill is in her second year of her PhD at the University of Sydney.

Her study involves working in a Meat and Livestock Australia project studying the body and carcase composition of British, European and Bos Indicus steers during growth in feedlots.

"It aims to pinpoint the time when the animal is finished, so feedlots aren't wasting time and money," she said.

The trial is done, and she is currently helping with the results, with the final report due to be rolled out in June.

As well as helping out on the family farm, Jill has coached the cattle showing team at Pymble Ladies College for the past five years.

And she absolutely loves it.

"When I started I had about eight kids doing it - now there are between 35 and 40 kids from Year 7 to Year 12," she said.

She said some students have been to farms of family members before, while others have no experience of farm life at all.

"Some of them have never had anything to do with ag before - and I get to show them everything ag can be," she said.

"I was lucky to grow up with a farm, but plenty of them haven't.

"Some will be obsessed with the chickens or the ducks. When it comes to the cattle, it starts quiet, and then after one show they just pop out of their shell.

"It's my favourite thing ever to have kids that have graduated and gone on to do animal science.

"Without cattle team, they might have never gone into ag.

"To see a little Year 7 kid parading around a 500-kilogram animal - it does so much for their confidence and their public speaking."

She coaches school students to compete in cattle team for events like Sydney Royal Easter Show and the Scone Beef Bonanza.

She has also been involved in the Herefords Australia National Youth Expo, accompanying her students and enjoying meeting other young breeders.

She also coaches third and fourth year agriculture/animal science university students to compete in the ICMJ meat judging competition at Wagga.

On top of all that, Jill was selected to be a MLA Red Meat Industry Ambassador at the start of March this year.

Jill's achievements haven't gone unnoticed - she has been named the 2024 Hawkesbury Young Woman of the Year.

Teaching is an absolute joy for Jill.

"I am so passionate about it," she said.

"You get to show kids that agriculture can be a career path - they don't just have to be farmers.

"There might be kids who have never had the opportunity to be on a farm, but they love animals and want to become a vet.

"I just need to get that tiny spark of interest in the start to get them signed up, and getting them touching steers, parading and working with sheep, and eventually they are looking into ag uni courses. It is just so much fun."

Jill has some big plans for the future - but just now getting her PhD study complete is keeping her busy.

But research won't be off the table after that.

"I love the idea of researching something that will make change in the industry, and actually help farmers make more profit," she said.

"I love getting the data and thinking 'this will actually change the way feedlots pen their cattle'."

She also won't be giving up working with students anytime soon.

"I love showing them what they can do," she said.

"I feel so lucky to have a career that I love - it doesn't even feel like work."

This article is branded content for Herefords Australia.