Young farmer meets the challenge

Dylan Bellchambers has been named as the 2024 Woolworths Tasmanian Young Farmer of the Year. 

The announcement was made during the State Final of the competition at Quercus Park on Saturday.

The competition saw Zac Leonard take second place, Chelsea Rayner take third, Jake Williams finishing fourth, and Charlton Skirving in fifth place.

Reflecting on his achievement, Mr Bellchambers said it was his fourth time entering in the competition and each year there has been a tough field of young competitors. 

“Winning this award is fantastic; I absolutely love agriculture, and I was fortunate enough to be inspired by and learn a lot from growing up on my uncles mixed cropping and livestock property and I suppose that’s what instilled my passion for the industry and this career choice.”

Mr Bellchambers’ agricultural journey began with intensive vegetable production in Tasmania’s North West and he has also worked in the agricultural technology space, working with agricultural software and artificial intelligence. 

“I’ve had a real breadth of opportunities in what I’d still consider quite a short career, I’m only into my only fourth year of this so it feels like the opportunities are endless.”

In the future, Mr Bellchambers dreams of running his own cropping and livestock property with his partner in the North West.

“That can be a real challenge for a young person starting out and it’ll be a lot of hard work to get to that point but that’s the end goal at this stage.”

Mr Bellchambers said although he was named the winner there were areas where he struggled, such as the cattle judging module.

“Nobody’s perfect at everything, agriculture is such a diverse field and you certainly don’t have to be good at it all.”

The awards are open to anyone in Tasmania aged 15-30.

“It’s a great competition supported by great sponsors, and I would encourage young farmers to look at competing next year.”