Hamish's 2020 scholarship was proudly supported by Young Aggies
Here's what Hamish had to say;
"For a long time, I have endeavoured to understand and comprehend what broad acre and irrigation cropping in the Moree area and Gwydir Valley looks like. Seeing photos of water storages that hold enough water to supply a small town and single paddocks that are larger than your average farm across the state, has fuelled my interest in agriculture and something I was really looking forward to seeing.
This experience in the Moree area has certainly enabled me to see this come to fruition. During my 2-week period, which was spread across mostly individual and two-day experience’s due to rain, I was able to grasp the total scale which most producers in the Moree area manage. Travelling over 450km a day, stopping to determine different types of weeds, discussing different chemistry options for spraying, understanding fertiliser programs and considering the process producers take to create a cropping rotation that enables them to be successful are just some of skills I will take away from the scholarship.
Spending the majority of my time with Sam Simons from Poole Ag Consulting, and Alex Trinder & Rob Holmes from HMAg, I was able to see how a private agronomy consulting works day to day. Initially, I couldn’t fully comprehend how much area they had to cover every day and the amount of time that goes into planning a week, for essentially checking crops. This certainly was something I was surprised by. As I am still completing university, spending time with people that have also completed a similar education, helped me to grasp what my future could look like.
By receiving the Young Aggies Scholarship, I have certainly gained a lot of contacts that I definitely would not have previously gained. Being able to stay in contact with the people I have worked with, has allowed me to grow my knowledge of the Moree area even more. The experiences have also allowed for reflection on my own family farm operations, where I have been able to discuss some of the practises that I learnt and saw, which I hope in the future will be able to be implemented.
From what I experienced, Moree and the Gwydir Valley is most certainly an area that I would recommend to anybody that wants a start in Agriculture. It is a very productive town that will only grow further as agriculture gets bigger. With the uncertainty of labour and the scale of these cropping systems, there is always going to be work available for someone to get a start, so people would be crazy not to give it a crack as the opportunities are only going to grow.
The farming practices around Moree are exceptional, the producers are at the forefront of all new technological advancements and really are driving what I believe to be the next big steps in Agriculture within Australia. I would definitely consider moving to Moree for work and it is only because of this scholarship that I would consider this.
I would like to thank the organisers of the Young Aggies Scholarship for such a pleasant experience, which has helped to shape my career. Receiving this scholarship has grown my passion for Agronomy and I am forever thankful for that."