HOD - Studies

Stuart Irwin

Stuart.Irwin@education.wa.edu.au

The oat fodder crop was planted on the 20th May to a late maturing variety of oats and is being used as a major project for  Plant Production students.  Brent Pritchard (Agronomist) discussed grazing of fodder crops with the crop being strip grazed twice since planting, initially with 29 cows, 9 heifers and calves, and the second grazing included 22 cows and calves for a total of 16 days. 

Currently the paddock is being setup as a Scientific Investigation task to grow more pasture in winter in a 35 day grazing rotation trials by applying varying rates of fertiliser, based partly on tissue test results and research on nitrogen fertilisers. 

Fodder cuts will be completed at the end of day 35 to estimate total dry matter per hectare and we hope to up date you in the next newsletter of the results.

Waterlogging is an issue with over 500mm since the start of May, however, we will not complain and hope the rain makes its way into agricultural areas.

Term 3 Student Progress

Year 12 ATAR exams and the Year 11 Biology exams are programmed for the end of Term 3 Week 9 and 10.  This term is a very important term for our year 12’s to keep up to date with task work and make every effort to maintain or increase their final grade.

Pruning Grape Vines

Claire Petrie

Plant Production Teacher

The Year 10’s have recently be gaining industry training in pruning grape vines at the Cheese Factory Scotsdale. Hand prune vines is a competency attached to the Certificate 1 in AgriFood Operations. This unit of competency delivers the skills and knowledge required to hand prune vines.

Year 11 Aquaculture

Shellfish Hatchery Excursion

By Bryce Van Der Heide 

"The shellfish hatchery was a very educational excursion, and an interesting and worthwhile enterprise. The guide was very informative, and we learnt a lot while on the excursion. We learnt how the shellfish are spawned, and how they grow the tiny oysters in 20 000 litre tanks, which they only produce one teaspoon of shellfish larvae from. The shellfish grow in little nets, attached to tiny pieces of shell. These are put through a grader and sized. When they are big enough, they are put in oyster baskets in oyster harbour. They are then  farmed when big enough, and sold. 

Our favourite was the algae growth room, where they grow their own algae to feed the oysters. The room was filled with large plastic tubes filled with water hanging in rows from the roof, all different colours. Some were red, some brown, some green and some yellow. The room was lit with blue lights, giving it a sci-fi kind of feel. It was very interesting to hear about how the algae were fed out of the room into the shellfish growth tanks for the shellfish to feed upon.

I was really struck by how elaborate the process was, and how much money the tiny oysters were worth. 2.5 litres of shellfish were worth roughly $800 000! But the process to get that amount was crazy, and the labour and time involved was also amazing. Overall, the entire excursion was a success, and I would do it again in a heartbeat." 

PF Olsen Plantation Excursion

Year 11 and 12 Forestry students who are currently working towards a Certificate II in Forest Growing and Management had the opportunity recently to work with PF Olsen Australia in a blue gum plantation near Denmark. PF Olsen provide forest management services from establishment to harvesting hardwood and other plantations.  Staff from PF Olsen discussed the forestry industry in Australia including markets, managements of plantations, career opportunities, Forest Stewardship Certification and how this is used to sell their products worldwide. Students were also inducted into the worksite as if they were contractors and planted 5000 trees or almost 6 hectares.  Students also toured previous plantings from 2018 and 2019. 

Forestry students and Mr Adams would like to acknowledge this strong link with the forestry industry and thank PF Olsen and staff for their ongoing support.