R[0]="40";

T[0]="More girls attracted to farming careers";

A[0]="By ... Editor";

Dn[0]="20020201";

Dt[0]="Friday 1 February 2002";

Acats[0]="a49a53";

B1[0]="      More girls are being drawn to careers in farming, which has been made more appealing by role models and the increased complexity ";

B2[0]="of the modern farm... ";

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S1[0]="      More girls are being drawn to careers in farming, which has been made more appealing by role models and the increased complexity ";

S2[0]=" of the modern farm.<BR> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Urrbrae Agricultural High School in South Australia has enrolled a record number of girls this year - and ";

S3[0]=" principal Terry Tierney believes girls will soon outnumber the boys in Year 8.<BR> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 'Girls are increasingly seeing the career options open to ";

S4[0]=" them in agriculture,' Mr Tierney told the Adelaide Advertiser yesterday.<BR> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 'As farming becomes more complex and margins get smaller, there's a lot ";

S5[0]=" more room for women to become involved from driving the tractor to doing the books.' Urrbrae now has 213 students in Year 8 - 104 ";

S6[0]=" girls and 109 boys.<BR> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; The school opened 70 years ago as a boys-only institution.<BR> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; It became co-educational in 1974 ";

S7[0]=" and policies were introduced to ensure female students were not disadvantaged.<BR> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Today, almost all the single-sex classes have disappeared and girls are ";

S8[0]=" getting their hands dirty in every aspect of school life from the piggery and winery to the wetlands.<BR> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 'Prominent role models such ";

S9[0]=" as Sara Henderson (the legendary cattle station boss and best-selling author) are having an effect on girls, I think,' Mr Tierney said.<BR> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; ";

S10[0]=" 'Other students come here because of a love of animals, while some want to pursue careers involving environmental science or land care.' SA Farmers Federation ";

S11[0]=" president Dale Perkins said he was encouraged by the trend because women were vital to the success of life on the land.<BR> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; ";

S12[0]=" 'In this electronic age of banking, women are predominantly responsible for the farm finances, tracking stock movements and marketing the product,' Mr Perkins said.<BR> &nbsp; ";

S13[0]=" &nbsp; &nbsp; 'They're things that some men haven't done as well as they could have (in the past) because they've been too busy out in ";

S14[0]=" the paddock or driving the tractor.' The state's Rural Woman of the Year, Jeanette Gellard, said agricultural careers did not always mean 'getting your hands ";

S15[0]=" dirty'.<BR> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Besides production, wide opportunities existed in research and science, journalism, business marketing, exporting and importing as well as agricultural engineering and ";

S16[0]=" mechanics.<BR> &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 'What we're seeing is a reflection of people's better understanding of the sector and the many career paths it offers,' she ";

S17[0]=" said... ";