Hundreds of students are having their eyes opened to opportunities in agriculture during an event in Nowra.
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The South Coast Beef School Steer Spectacular at the Nowra Showground has attracted about 400 students from 17 schools.
While the first day on Tuesday, May 2, was focused on workshops and education, students and teachers said a vital component of the event was networking and discussing emerging opportunities in agriculture.
Bomaderry High School agriculture teacher Bronwyn Hilaire said some past participants from the school had gone on to work on farms, while others were at university studying agricultural science.
"It's great for the students to realise there's this industry on their doorstep," Ms Hilaire said.
Moss Vale High School teacher Georgia Gee was keen to see her students take part because the School Steer Spectacular represented "opportunities - it's all about careers in ag".
"It's much more than a ribbon, it's about networking, talking to other schools, taking to future employers," Ms Gee said.
She took part in the first School Steer Spectacular when she was a Vincentia High School student, and this year is participating for the first time as a teacher.
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And she said her students were "thriving, they're loving it, I can't wipe the smiles off their faces".
Ms Gee said the hands-on workshops on things including grooming cattle and making rope halters was "real life, real enterprise stuff that you have to do in and outside the farm, in and outside school".
The chance to learn things and them immediately put them into practice impressed Kylie Maher from Narooma High School.
The school took 22 students and nine animals to the events, with many of the animals coming from the school's own limousin stud.
Ms Maher said the event was teaching the students about priorities.
"It's tending to the animals first, and that's probably a good lesson to learn, that they've got to be out here and they come first and the kids themselves come second in these instances," she said.
Renee Lidgard from Bomaderry High School said there was a strong focus on clipping cattle, to emphasise the main meat cuts.
She said some students particularly enjoyed the hand-on component of the work, while others spoke about wide range of experiences and careers available within the agriculture industry.
