Farm Enterprises
Grains
Well, there's only a couple of weeks left of seeding. Students are powering through and getting their observation sheets completed. Certificate II in Agriculture students are being signed off on AHCBAC205 - Assist agricultural crop establishment and Certificate III in Agriculture students are working away at AHCBAC315 - Establish agricultural crops. This Cert III unit is quite intense and requires a lot of work by the students undertaking it.
General
The focus of the past couple of weeks for Year 11s has been the attainment of their yellow licences! This allows students to drive the College utes and our little New Holland tractor without a trainer in the vehicle with them. They are still required to be within line of site of a staff member, but a yellow licence gives students a bit more independence and responsibility. Thanks to Mr West for sitting in the bumpy seat and putting the majority of the Year 11s through the test and allowing them time to have a bit of practice.
You can't get more perfect than that!
You can't get more perfect than that!
Cattle
We have been lucky enough to have a couple of casual farm staff members come in over the past few weeks to do extra checks on the cattle and a bit of fencing! Thank you to Mrs Arthur and Mr Fox for helping us out.
Last week, we weaned the remainder of our calves, and they have been pretty well behaved this time round. Regular checks of electric fences are important at this time in the program, so we don't end up with 2 mobs of cows and calves (instead of 1 mob of cows and 1 mob of calves)! Thank you to everyone who is assisting with the cattle while we look for a replacement cattle Technical Officer. Special mention to Miss Baker who keeps the bovines fed!
Piggery
This week we will be sad to say goodbye to Miss Davenport as she heads off on maternity leave. We are all excited for her to start the adventure ahead though, and we look forward to meeting her little bundle of joy in the coming months. Good luck!!
Meanwhile, the piggery is chugging along with a steady stream of piglets being born and finishers heading for Linley Valley.
Sheep
Our four Merino mobs have started lambing, while the Prime lamb mob is at the end of their lambing. Students are busy checking and feeding them, making sure they are well looked after.
The Year 11s are shearing the wethers that we couldn't finish last term, and they are getting better by the day. Year 12s are in the process of finishing their practicals for the livestock units.
Workshop
The pig supplement bins are almost complete, so students have moved on to a couple of other projects. Year 11 students have fitted a new alternator to the forklift in preparation for some staff to complete their forklift tickets next week. They have also fabricated a wheelbarrow ramp for the horse manure trailer, making it easier for staff and students when they muck out their horse yards.
Kylie Iles
Assistant Farm Manager