A 19-year-old from Florencecourt is juggling work on two separate farms while completing her agricultural studies, and she is urging more women to consider a career in farming.

Samantha Hamilton helps run her family's couple of hundred acres, where they keep a beef and suckler herd of up to 50 animals, alongside pedigree Texel and Limousin cattle and pedigree sheep.

In addition to the family farm, she works at a dairy operation in Tamlaght owned by William and Jason Graham. There she milks about 800 cows, spending three hours each morning and three hours each evening in the parlour.

She began working at the dairy farm four years ago, at the age of 15. On the family farm her duties include dosing, weighing, moving, clipping and vaccinating both sheep and cattle, often in the mornings, evenings and at weekends.

Ms Hamilton is in her final year of a Level Three Agriculture course at the CAFRE campus in Enniskillen, where she attends one day a week. She intends to take over the family farm in the future and also aims to join the Department of Agriculture as an inspector.

She said her farming background comes from both parents, Rodney and Viola Hamilton, who have strong farming roots. She believes women are equally capable in farming and often bring natural skills developed from managing households and families.

According to Ms Hamilton, the number of women in the industry is too low. She encouraged others to pursue agricultural courses and to follow their ambitions if they want to farm.