The pair was chosen from a field of 24 applicants from NSW, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania by a panel of industry judges.

The winners were announced at a special scholarship dinner held at the Cache Function Centre in Wagga Wagga on March 2.

The scholarship, now in its fifth year, will provide Ms Anderson and Mr Molloy with cash and in-kind support worth up to $10,000 over 12 months.

The scholarship is open to young people aged 18-30, and honours the late Peter Westblade, a sheep producer from the Riverina town of Lockhart, who was passionate about breeding profitable sheep and a supporter of young people interested in agriculture.

Ms Anderson, 24, graduated from the University of New England in 2012 and has worked on her family’s sheep and wool enterprise ‘Lower Sylvia Vale’ at Binda, approximately 25km north west of Crookwell in the Southern Tablelands.

She also works part time for a local contract shearing team, the CWL Shearing and Scanning team based at Crookwell.

“It’s certainly a great privilege to be the finalist and it gives you that networking opportunity which may not normally be offered to ordinary students,” Ms Anderson said.

“We’ve already met some of the best minds in genetics and research in the industry, and have also been networking to get the skills needed for the future of the industry.

“I want to take advantage of the opportunities this scholarship provides to expand my skill set and to gain a better understanding of the many facets of the sheep and wool industry.”

Ms Anderson also emphasised that she would put these skills learned into practice to identify and implement improvements to the family farm business at Lower Sylvia Vale.