Shayla’s rural passion
South Australia’s Young Rural Ambassador for 2025, Shayla Lepse, started volunteering in the sheep and cattle industry as a student from the city at the age of just 13.
The 19-year-old is now employed as a farm-hand by AJ & PA McBride on Konetta Station at Greenways south of Lucindale in the South East and was recently appointed Lucindale Show president.
She is honoured to have been chosen to lead the organisation of the show next year at such a young age, after the previous president Luke Farrell stepped down from the committee due to work and family commitments.
“It is exciting and very daunting at the same time,” Lepse said.
Becoming involved in activities in the area has been the key to Lepse making the region her home and winning the state’s Young Rural Ambassador Award.
The award is supported by the Department of Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA) and has been run by SA Country Shows for 25 years.
Originally from the Adelaide suburb of Seaford, Lepse developed her love of agriculture at Urrbrae Agricultural High School.
You might like
“I had always had an interest in animals and loved them and being around them, but I wasn’t 100 per cent sure about agriculture when I first went to Urrbrae, she said.
“I originally wanted to be my own boss and work towards becoming a chef and growing my own produce.
“I wanted to have a completely self-sustainable restaurant.”
But Lepse said Urrbrae teaches students “the language of the land,” and as soon as she had her first agriculture class in year 8, she decided to pursue a career with livestock.
In 2019 she joined her school’s sheep and cattle club and was able to learn about breeding livestock and preparing them for agricultural shows.
From year 10 the livestock activities became more hands on, and she helped feed, break in, and halter train the sheep and cattle for exhibition.
Lepse was part of the school team that entered livestock in the Royal Adelaide Show.
She won her first blue ribbon for sheep handling in Year 10 and volunteered outside of school to help cattle and sheep breeders showcase their animals.
Lepse said this involved supporting some producers in the South East and she is grateful to her parents who would drive her to the region to gain this valuable experience.
She also donated her time to help sheep and cattle breeders with their entries in agricultural shows in Mount Pleasant, Mount Barker and Kapunda.
Stay informed, daily
Just two months after graduating from high school, Lepse accepted a job as a station hand at a stud farm at Avenue Range west of Lucindale on the Limestone Coast.
She said it gave her the chance to work on a property with sheep, cattle, and crops.
Lepse then took up her role at Konetta Station in October 2024 and in just 18 months has fallen in love with the country lifestyle.
Being involved with the community led to invitations to local football and netball games.
“Moving out here at the age of 17 and not knowing anyone except my boss and my co-worker was daunting and I was very happy that I did join the committees,” she said.
Lepse is excited about her career in agriculture, and she hopes to work her way up to a manager’s position or one day have her own property.
She says women are making their mark in the SA livestock industry and on Konetta Station her overseer is a woman and about three out of eight of the staff are female.
“If you go back 10 or 20 years you may have had one female if you were lucky,” she said.
Lepse joined the Naracoorte Show Committee last year and is a member of the Lucindale Lions Club, which led to her also becoming a Lucindale Show committee member and eventually its president.
She is also on Lucindale’s Yakka Wakkas B & S Charity Ball committee.
Lepse is busily preparing with her committee for the 127th Lucindale Show on February 28 and March 1, 2026.
Her team are a mix of ages with the older ones who are in their 60s eager to pass on their knowledge to younger members like herself.
Lepse is humbled to be a role model for youngsters who are also aspiring to work in the sheep and cattle industry, and some have said they look up to her.
“It definitely warms my heart,” she said.
Lepse said the future of agricultural shows and the livestock industry is in safe hands.
“The people that I have seen and met who are involved are just wonderful, and there are some that are younger than me, that just astonish me,” Lepse said.
