Jack Dadd, one of the 2025 recipients of the Young Aggies Moree Rural Scholarship, during his placement in the Moree region. Image supplied by Young Aggies Moree.
For many tertiary agriculture students, the transition from study to industry can feel like the hardest part of building a career.
Young Aggies Moree hopes to make that first step easier through its 2026 Rural Scholarship, offering a $2,000 bursary, a two-week organised work placement, industry introductions and, where possible, accommodation support for students looking to gain practical experience in the Moree region.
A degree can build knowledge, but practical experience often shapes what comes next. Finding worthwhile placements, travelling away from home and stepping into unfamiliar workplaces can all become part of the journey for students looking to enter the agricultural industry.
For Young Aggies Moree secretary, Sophie Venz, that’s always been the purpose.
“We find the work placement for them and line it all up,” she said.
“They basically just have to apply and tell us what they want to do with their careers.”
The scholarship is designed for tertiary students studying agriculture-related courses and degrees. Successful applicants receive a $2,000 bursary, spend two weeks working with agricultural businesses across the Moree region and begin building professional relationships while experiencing agriculture in one of New South Wales’ most significant farming districts.
Qualifications might open the profession.
Experience is often what opens the next door.
Removing the barriers
The bursary helps students cover the cost of travelling to Moree and living in the district during their placement.
Young Aggies recognised there were other barriers too.
Arriving in an unfamiliar town where you know no one can be just as daunting.
Rather than leaving scholarship recipients to spend two weeks in a motel, committee members are offering spare rooms in their own homes, where possible, giving students the opportunity to experience Moree alongside the people who live and work there.
“We understand it’s not that nice staying by yourself in a random town,” Ms Venz said.
“We’re trying to make it a bit easier for the people coming in and make them feel a bit more welcome, so we can take them around town and show them what else there is to see in Moree.”
The accommodation is only one part of the program.
Young Aggies isn’t simply trying to fund work experience.
The organisation wants students to experience the district through the people who already call it home.
Many of the volunteers welcoming scholarship recipients once arrived in Moree as newcomers themselves. What began as a networking group for young people working in agriculture has grown into an organisation that includes professionals from banking, healthcare, emergency services and other industries, many of whom understand what it is like to build a new life in a regional town.
That experience has helped shape the scholarship into something broader than financial assistance alone.
Planting a seed
The scholarship is open to local applicants, but Young Aggies hopes its greatest impact will come from students who have never considered Moree as the place where their career might begin.
Recipients are matched with businesses that reflect their interests, giving them exposure to the diversity of agricultural careers available across the district while helping them discover where they might fit within the industry.
“It’s basically to introduce them to Moree, get them to figure out what they want to do as university students in ag, and hopefully encourage them to come back,” Ms Venz said.
Ms Venz said previous scholarship recipients have returned to Moree after completing their studies, turning a short placement into ongoing employment and life in the district.
Each scholarship gives students an opportunity to experience both the workplace and the community before making longer-term career decisions.
An investment in Moree’s future
Each year, proceeds from the Young Aggies Sunset Gala are reinvested into the scholarship program, turning a community fundraising event into an investment in the next generation of agricultural professionals.
Every ticket sold helps fund the next scholarship. Every scholarship brings another student to Moree. Some leave with new skills. Others leave seeing the district as somewhere they could build a career.
For Young Aggies, the scholarship is about creating opportunities for students while introducing future agricultural professionals to the Moree district during an important stage of their careers.
Applications for the 2026 Young Aggies Moree Rural Scholarship are now open to tertiary students studying an agriculture-related degree or course.
Successful applicants will receive a $2,000 bursary, a two-week work placement with agricultural businesses in the Moree region, industry introductions and, where possible, accommodation with Young Aggies committee members during their stay.
Applications close on August 31, 2026.
Applications can be lodged through the Young Aggies Moree Rural Scholarship online application form.
