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Farm Focus backs Tasmania's next generation of young farmers
Farm Focus was proud to support the 2026 Tasmanian Young Farmer of the Year competition, bringing farm business skills and real-world financial management into a competition designed to inspire and challenge Tasmania's next generation of farmers.
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Young farmers are vital to the future of agriculture and getting the next generation excited about all aspects of being a successful agri operator is an integral part of ensuring the industry continues to thrive.
This means developing skills well beyond the practical work on the farm. Knowing how to manage livestock, machinery, crops and people is critical - but so is understanding the numbers, managing cashflow, planning ahead and making sound business decisions. That's where Farm Focus comes in.
“We want young people coming into agriculture to be excited about every part of running a successful farm business. The practical skills are obviously hugely important, but understanding the financial and business side is just as critical.
Building skills for successful farm businesses
Farm Focus is an all-in-one farm financial management platform designed specifically for farmers and their advisors. With 45 years experience and more than 10,000 farm businesses using Farm Focus across Australia and New Zealand, it helps farmers manage everything from invoices, transactions and GST through to budgeting, forecasting, scenario planning, livestock reconciliation, reporting and benchmarking.
Farm Focus brings financial and physical farm performance together in one place, helping farmers make better decisions about the business behind the farm.
But Farm Focus is about more than software. Building financial literacy and farm business capability is a big part of why we exist.
Farm Focus Education Lead Annie Cates has been with the team for over 10 years and is also a sheep and beef farmer with her husband in the Wairarapa, New Zealand.
“A big part of my role is working with students and young people in agriculture. We do this right across New Zealand, working with the major agricultural tertiary providers, Agribusiness in Schools and NZ Young Farmers. So taking that approach into Australia — and particularly working with Rural Youth Tasmania — was a really exciting opportunity for us.”
Bringing farm business into the Young Farmer Competition
The Tasmanian Young Farmer Competition brings together young Tasmanians aged 15–30 through a series of qualifying rounds, culminating in the State Final.
With a prize pool of more than $60,000, including a Yamaha UTV, the competition gives young people the chance to test their skills, compete with their peers and connect with others across the agricultural sector.
As part of the 2026 competition, Farm Focus helped develop the Agribusiness module, which featured in both the run-offs and the State Final.
It was a great way to bring a modern, real-world farm business tool into the competition and give participants the opportunity to test their knowledge of the financial side of agriculture alongside the practical skills they use on farm.
“The Young Farmer Competition is about so much more than learning new skills — it's about connecting young people to an industry that will one day be in their hands. It's a chance to showcase the innovation happening in agriculture today, and to give the next generation the confidence and connections to carry it forward, all while having a bit of fun. I can't wait to see where the competition takes us in the years ahead.”
The Farm Focus team particularly enjoyed working with Billie Hall and the Rural Youth team to develop the resources for the module.
“Billie and the Rural Youth team have been fantastic to work with. They’ve been really open to bringing the business side of farming into the competition, and it’s been great fun putting the resources together and seeing the Agribusiness module come to life.”
Celebrating Tasmania's future farmers
Farm Focus was also represented at the State Final in August, with Zoe Teal attending the competition and finalist dinner and presenting the award to the winner of the Agribusiness module.
“It was fantastic to see the calibre of young farmers coming through in Tasmania. They’re commercially minded, ambitious and thinking seriously about the business behind the farm. That’s exactly the next generation Farm Focus wants to support, and I was incredibly proud to present the Agribusiness Award.”
For Farm Focus, Tasmania is a great example of how we’re taking our long-standing commitment to educating and supporting the next generation of farmers into Australia.
“We’ve been doing this work across New Zealand for years, and we’re excited to bring that experience to Australia,” says Annie. “There’s a huge amount of talent and enthusiasm among young people coming into agriculture, and we want to help them build the skills — both practical and business — they need to succeed.”
Farm Focus congratulates all of the 2026 Tasmanian Young Farmer of the Year competitors and finalists. We’re proud to have played a part and look forward to continuing to support Tasmania’s next generation of agricultural leaders.
