Annabelle Coppin (Western Australia)
Age: 22
Location:  Yarrie Station, Western Australia
Occupation: Farm Overseer
Industry Sector: Beef
Life’s Motto: Keep the carton cold and full

• Born and bred Port Hedland
• Grew up on “Yarrie Station”, East Pilbara, Western Australia
• School of the air until Year 8
• 3 years boarding school, Perth Years 11 and 12, WA College of Agriculture
• Worked at home for 1 year
• 8 week pilot licence course (full time)
• 4 months working for Heytesbury
• Back home to run family property

Spending six days on a live export boat travelling from Darwin to Jakarta with 16,000 head of cattle, may not be on the top of the list of things to do for most young rural people but Annabelle Coppin jumped at the chance.

“It was an excellent experience as well as a personal reinforcement of how essential, innovative, diverse and exciting the live cattle trade industry is to Australia, our industry and my family’s livelihood”.

After boarding school and a short stint working away, Annabelle returned to Yarrie Station in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia where she continues to oversee the everyday operations of the family beef property. It’s a career that appears to have chosen Annabelle.

“It’s what burns the fire inside me. The fact is  the sky’s the limit in agriculture. The potential is exciting and it’s only up to me to keep climbing. Plus I get to work cattle, ride horses and fly”.

That’s right – not only has this challenge-seeking young overseer experienced life on a live export boat,  she also holds her fixed wing pilot’s licence and takes the Cessna up whenever she gets the chance - all this at 22 years of age.

“I have learnt that the skills I need in agriculture to be an efficient, profitable, innovative and importantly content producer are endless.  It’s important to never stop learning and keep taking on challenges”.

Not surprisingly, Annabelle sees the future of rural industries as prosperous, sustainable and innovative and believes there are a lot of good things happening in the industry at present.

Annabelle hopes to be able to look back on her life and be proud of the land under her care and be confident and content with the product produced from it. But there are also a few things she doesn’t want to be doing!
“Definitely not digging post holes, hopefully I’ll be beyond that by then”.

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