Farm Manager

Geoff.Howell

Geoffrey.Howell@education.wa.edu.au

Fodder Conservation Programme

As we enter the last half of Term 4 we seem to be busier than ever, having cut some silage at Harvey in late Term 3 we have now commenced the Fodder Conservation Programme at Wokalup in earnest.

Silage has been cut at the Dairy enterprise on the two pivots areas giving the Year 11 students an excellent opportunity to operate the mower, rake, baler and silage wrapper, as well as front end loader operations when carting the rolls back to the dairy.

While this was going on, Mr Millichamp and Mr Venables cut hay in the hills, as this does pose some issues for us with some of the terrain being not suitable for student drivers.

Our Fodder Conservation Programme had very few interruptions this year with minimal weather events to halt it, and no major breakdowns.  I must acknowledge all the staff and students for how they conducted themselves during this busy time of the year, everybody put in a big effort to produce good quality forage for the College.

Irrigation Season 

While our Fodder Conservation Programme is in full swing, the irrigation season also commenced.  The Dairy and Beef enterprises' irrigation pastures commenced in later October, along with Horticulture,  after some minor upgrades to the delivery line.

With rainfall well below average this year the College received a water allocation of 52% or 348 megalitres of water which resulted in us having to purchase some extra water to get through the season.

Beef

In November students were involved in the weaning program of 100 Angus steers and all the Angus heifers, both commercial and stud. 

Sheep

Mr Adams, with some help from Mr McGee, gave the Year 11 students completing a Certificate III in Advanced Wool Handling,  the opportunity to shear the lambs and practice their shearing skills

Horticulture

At Horticulture Mrs Morris, Mr Olde and Mr Foster have been busy planting summer crops of water melons, tomatoes and sweet corn.

Intensive

Ms Warden has had some good results with the small piggery providing some excellent pork to the College kitchen.  This has given Mr McGee and the students the opportunity to make some top quality bacon and ham. A plan has been put in place for 2020 to expand to having four sows with two sows farrow every eight weeks.  This will enable the section to supply the kitchen with all its pork, bacon and small goods.

I would like to thank Mr Graeme Moore from our Ag Advisory, for the work he puts in to help Ms Warden on the Intensive Section.

During the week of December 2nd to 6th the Farm Trainers all participated in some industry placement to ensure their skills and knowledge are as current as possible.

I would like wish everybody a safe holiday and look forward to seeing you all in 2020.