Growing up on a sheep farm all her life, Mrs Wallace said her father first introduced her to the Merino breed when she was a child.

“We always helped Dad out in the school holidays on the farm and he always expected us to do anything that the workmen were doing,” Mrs Wallace said.

Trefusis is an elegant property well hidden from the hustle and bustle of the rat race of the city – there are no houses within eyeshot of the farm that is tucked away behind rolling hills in the Midlands near Ross. Mrs Wallace and her husband Hamish took over the property in 2007 after spending 23 years running a smaller property Uplands at Deddington. Trefusis runs Merino sheep and prime lambs and Mrs Wallace says the Merino stud has always been “her baby.”

“I’ve always had a passion for the Merino breed, I think it’s really because they are such a wonderful dual-purpose sheep,” she said.

Merino wool is known for its many wonderful properties and can be used for the most sensitive of garments.

“Merinos are a very versatile breed and the wool is such a fantastic fibre,” Mrs Wallace said.

“I love getting that buzz when you open a sheep's fleece and you see that lovely soft white crimped wool.”

At the Campbell Town Show, Mrs Wallace was one of three to be awarded joint winners of the Bruce Forster Laincot memorial award for “services to the wool industry.” Mrs Wallace said she felt “very honoured” to receive the trophy especially because of her family’s connection to its namesake.

Bruce Forster was Trefusis’ stud classer when Mrs Wallace was growing up.

“My father used to get quite frustrated because Bruce wasn’t known for being punctual,” Mrs Wallace said.

“His sheepdog was a cocker spaniel named Caddie and if the sheep weren’t running up the race it was either Caddie or Bruce in the way.” Despite his quirks, Mrs Wallace said she greatly admired Mr Forster.

“He was always willing to share his knowledge, he was a very good classer.”

Mrs Wallace said that connection had made the surprise award win even more special.

“I was very touched because I greatly admire the other award winners,” she said.

No stranger to the show circuit Mrs Wallace also participates in various sheep judging events nationwide and competitions as both a judge and a competitor.

"It’s my passion and I’ve always been a bit competitive, I enjoy breeding and raising the sheep I take to shows,” she said.

Mrs Wallace started going to the Campbell Town Show when she was about five years old when her father was showing sheep at the show.

She said showing at sheep competitions was fairly labour intensive but it was worth the effort.

“I have just selected my show sheep for next year’s shows – so they will be mostly shedded [left in the shed] until show season,” she said.

She was on the Campbell Town Show committee for 16 years and spent time as the first female president of the committee.

“I think it’s wonderful to be involved in your local community event and I get a kick out of seeing people enjoy something you had a hand in organising,” she said.

She only recently resigned to take an even more challenging role – as the first female president of the Australian Association for Stud Merino Breeders (AASMB) in March 2015.

Declining Merino sheep numbers is one of the first issues Mrs Wallace wants to tackle as part of her tenure as president.

“Merino numbers nationally are dropping at a considerable rate, our national flock numbers are now sitting at 70 million, when in the ‘80s they were sitting more like 178 million,” she said.

“The fact that Merino numbers are declining so rapidly is a real concern.”

Mrs Wallace said for the past 25 years had generally been tough for most wool growers and that had caused a lot of people to turn away from the Merino breed.

“From about 1991 until the last few years wool was worth very little and people hung out in hope that it would improve but it didn’t,” she said.

It’s only in the past few years that prices have improved and are now more sustainable.”

Mrs Wallace said Merino had become a “dirty word” for many young people in that period of time.

“Farmers then, who are in their 30s and 40s now, turned away from the industry to pursue other enterprises such as prime lamb and cropping,” she said.

Mrs Wallace said she hoped she could improve the standing of Merino in the wool industry community and encourage more people to invest in the fibre and to prove that Merino operations can be profitable.

“Merino fits so well with what the consumer wants right now, traceability back to a product is important, and Merino fits in with that ideal, it’s such a wonderful environmentally friendly product,” she said.

Tasmanian sheep breeders have embraced the Merino breed and produce some of the world’s most sought-after superfine fleece. However that could be a double-edged sword, according to Mrs Wallace.

“Tasmania usually sits towards the superfine end, but unfortunately for years we’ve been told to ‘get finer, get finer’ so all the different micron categories have done so, so now there is an oversupply affecting the prices currently received.”

However she said medium micron and meat markets were doing quite well despite the oversupply affecting the superfine categories.

“There’s a bright future for Merino nationwide and I know there’s a lot more positive stories to tell.”

Agriculture reporter Caitlin Jarvis wants to celebrate the success of Tasmania’s rural women and will be running the Women in Agriculture series in the coming weeks. To nominate a rural woman email caitlin.jarvis@fairfaxmedia.com.au