WESTERN DOWNS FARMER 3
Thursday, September 28, 2017 dalbyherald.com.au
Students top of the crop Dalby ag students wow at EKKA JACINTA CUMMINS
All Smiles: Dylan Lavaring, Theodore; Britney Moodie, Tamworth; Marlee Grady, Crows Nest; Sara Wilson, Durong and Daniel Gray, Thargominah all chose to board at Dalby State High School’s Bunya campus so they could get a broader exposure to all-round agriculture than they would have at home. PHOTO: Jacinta Cummins. opportunities in as many areas of the agriculture industry as possible. Hayden Todd was brought on as Livestock Manager in 2014 and has established the school’s 80 head Dorper flock based on Bellevue bloodlines as well as starting a Limousin stud. A former stock agent and current board member on Queensland Ag Shows, Hayden has extensive livestock knowledge and show circuit and breed society connections to share with his students. "It was definitely an intensive process to get the Dorpers started, but we are now lambing down at 132% which is excellent," he said.
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"Of course, I’ve timed lambing towards the end of spring in early October so kids will be back from holidays to give me a hand!" The school’s sheep are butchered at Maclagan and then go through the boarding house kitchen to give students and staff the authentic paddock to plate experience. The school will establish a 23 head feedlot next year to allow students to analyse the data between grain and grassfed beasts. It’s Daniel Gray from Thargomindah’s third year at DSHS and the Year 11 student said he’s learnt about a much broader range of farming than he would have had he just
stayed at home. "It’s given me more of an idea about how different people do things and adjust things to their operation," he said. "I’m also a lot more confident since I got involved with cattle judging. "Before I would just hang back a bit, but I came seventh for judging at the EKKA so that was a big improvement and I think this confidence will help me for the rest of my life." Daniel isn’t sure of his plans after school; he can return to his family’s property, but he has his sights set on doing a building apprenticeship after doing classes at DSHS Trade Training Centre.
"I’d love to be able to build my own house and if I end up on a property, it’s a great skill to have." The 1400 acre aggregation across the Bunya campus and Moola property grows crops like sorghum, oats, barley and chickpeas alongside the livestock program and is the largest operating school farm in Queensland. The proof will be in the pudding, but according to Anne if awards, increasing enrolments and community support are any indicator, the future is bright. "By 2020, this could be a school of agri excellence that the school and our whole community can be very proud of."
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studies, but this will be expanded to a Certificate III next year to ensure students are work ready. This certificate will also guarantee students automatic entry into some agriculture related courses at universities such as James Cook University, the University of New England and the University of Queensland’s Gatton campus. "We’re starting to get businesses like stock agencies and agronomists wanting to work with us to establish bursaries and work placement," Anne said. While the Darling Downs is renowned as a cropping region, the program focusses on giving students
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DALBY STATE HIGH SCHOOL (DSHS) is reaping the rewards of six years of hard work expanding its agriculture program with its Dorpers beating commercial operators to win both the champion prime and second place at the EKKA. The three restaurant trade lambs were eight-month-old Dorpers fed on grass which averaged 28.1kg with a fat score of five. They made $7.40/kg dressed weight and the second placegetters were Dorpers from the same drop which averaged 32kg and sold for $7/kg. It was DSHS’s first time at the EKKA since the Bunya Campus opened on the former Dalby Agricultural College site in 2011. But Campus Principal Anne Rathmell says the results are just the start. "It’s been a long haul given some of the community opposed the closure of the Dalby Ag College fearing there wouldn’t be any place for agriculture inclined students to go, but we are coming into our own," she said. "It’s more than just doing well at the EKKA, we are drawing students from far North Queensland, out west and Tamworth and even southern New South Wales. The boarding program currently has 55 students who live on Bunya Campus and are bused into DSHS’s main campus daily for classes, but all agriculture students do their ag classes on the Bunya Campus. Students complete a Certificate II in Agriculture in conjunction with their Year 12
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