Grains

The canola program is now complete, and students are getting through the practical components associated with 'Establish Agricultural Crops'.

The College acquired a new tractor last week, with the 9R 420 being replaced with a John Deere 9R 490.

Cattle

We continue to feed regularly, but with a little bit of green pick around, we can hopefully slow down soon. We now have a number of calves on the ground, with our current count at 13 heifers and only 2 bulls!

Our biggest surprise has been the unusual markings on our latest baby. Y44 has always given us beautiful calves, but she's gone above and beyond this year, producing this little beauty after being Artificially Inseminated with Charolais semen (Venturon Phantom).

Piggery

We’ve been busy getting baconers out of the door over the last couple of weeks, with 90 pigs sold last month and another 90 due to go this month.

The weather has started to cool down, so this week we’re cleaning our gestation eco shelters and replacing the bedding with fresh new straw to keep the sows warm and happy.

Last week Phoebe, Dylan, Jacob, Brianna, Elsie, Isaac, Kira, Talia and Davina accompanied Miss Read and Miss Davenport on a 3-day Pork Industry Camp as part of their Cert III Pork qualification. They visited Linley Valley abattoir where, the college pigs are processed; Austral Fisheries, to learn about carbon offsets and sustainability; Murdoch University, where they saw some great porcine specimens and a lecture on the pork industry in Australia; a “treating sick pigs” workshop at Portec; dinner at a pork specialty restaurant and a visit to a large-scale intensive piggery. The students really enjoyed the camp and got a lot out of it. Thanks to all the organisations and people within them, that gave their time to talk and engage with our students.

Butcher Shop

The butcher shop has once again been busy with Mr Jones processing lambs and preparing bacon and hams for the kitchen. The smells from the smoker have been divine!

Thank you to the Year 11 students who sliced kilogram upon kilogram of bacon last week. It was a great to see the care and precision taken with the slicing and packing.

Sheep

Our students are still feeding all the lambing and pregnant ewes, hoping for more rain to brighten up the paddocks a bit. Our Poll Dorset lambs are growing well and looking strong! The Prime Lamb mob is in full lambing-mode, and the paddock is full of lambs playing. The Merino ewes are slowly filling up with milk and will start lambing in a couple of weeks.

Daniel de Beer

Farm Manager

Kylie Iles

Assistant Farm Manager

General Notices