AGVISION AND CATTLE JUDGING

It has been a busy time for Agriculture with two excursions and some new arrivals in the last couple of weeks.

On Wednesday 7 August, 36 students travelled to Homebush for the AgVision Careers Expo. Students chose to attend several workshops to explore the many possibilities offered as careers in agriculture and related industries. These included everything from drones and remote sensing, through the more traditional farming areas such as dairy, beef and sheep, to regenerative agriculture and edible insect farming. 

Many students commented that they were exposed to ideas that they had not necessarily considered before and will definitely be following up with further investigations.

The next day, 21 students travelled to Albion Park to compete in the Dairy Cattle Young Judges Competition. Students are asked to judge three pens of four cattle with the aim of placing them in the same order as the head judge. The competition is run by the Agricultural Societies Council (ASC) and is open to 15 to 25 year old competitors. 

Congratulations to Charlotte Hilton, Year 9, who was the overall winner. Charlotte not only won her class for 15 to 18 year olds but took out the main prize against older competitors. Charlotte received the Geoff Mayo Memorial Award and will now represent the ASC South Coast region in the State Finals at the 2020 Sydney Royal Easter Show. One outstanding aspect of Charlotte's achievement is that she recorded a perfect 150 points in judging the three classes of cattle, a feat that is very rarely accomplished.

Congratulations also to Elizabeth Coulthart who placed second in the Junior section, as well as  Alfred Coulthart and Megan Sbragia who made the final. Thank you to the Albion Park Show Society for hosting this event.

With spring around the corner, our goat herd has begun to expand. Two new kids have been born and are finding their feet among lots of attention from the students. Two more kids are expected over the coming weeks.

We are also currently hosting two dairy calves for the Cows Create Careers program.

As part of this program, Year 9 have also welcomed two guest speakers this week. Vicki Timbs and Greg Duncan have joined us to share their stories of careers in the dairy industry. There are a wide variety of jobs throughout the whole supply chain from farm to consumer. We are grateful for their insights and thank them for giving up their time to visit us.

We are appreciative to the guest speakers and to Dairy Australia and the Boyd family for supporting the program.

Following the completion of the ‘fox proof’ chicken pen, our chicken breeding program has also recommenced. Our silkie flock has produced fertile eggs and we have welcomed the first hatchlings from this process. More chicken breeding will follow and there should be layer pullets available later in the year.

Mr. David Muller

Coordinator Agriculture