Farmer to fly north
Off north: Aaron Brown (right) is off to a northern Queensland cattle station thanks to a Victorian Farmers Federation scholarship and sponsorship from Rabobank. Wishing him well on his way were VFF Livestock president Ian Feldtmann and Rabobank Leongatha branch manager Russell Mann.
A WATTLE Bank farmer is heading to northern Queensland as part of a scholarship courtesy of the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF).
Aaron Brown will change scenery from his lush green beef and sheep farm just north of Inverloch for the red plains of a Queensland cattle station.
Mr Brown has been given the opportunity thanks to an inaugural scholarship run by the VFF Livestock Group and supported by Rabobank.
The 26 year old is excited about the three months experience.
“I probably just want to get a broad range of experience and exposure to the northern cattle industry,” he said.
“The industry is much larger than down here so I want to experience that and another thing I want to see is how those rural communities work. They are a lot different to down here.
“I have also been told that where I am going is in drought so that will be good exposure for me as well.”
Mr Brown will be stationed at Boomarra, a 108,000ha property run by NAPCO (The North Australian Pastoral Company) that can host up to 9000 cattle at any one time.
The young farmer heads north today (Wednesday) and said marketing and import are facets he wants to be exposed to.
“From what I can gather in a country like Australia we have to be focused on exports and I think NAPCO is well integrated in those markets overseas,” Mr Brown said.
“I think they have about 180,000 head of cattle all up and being connected to the markets in South East Asia, I think that will be good exposure for me.
“I’m not exactly sure what skills I will learn up there, but hopefully I will have the opportunity to see how they manage their business differently to us as well.”
VFF Livestock president Ian Feldtmann said the VFF is passionate about young people in agriculture.
“We’ve been very supportive of this initiative and been endeavouring to keep it going long,” he said.
The VFF is hoping Mr Brown will be able to share his experience with other young farmers.
“We’re hoping that we can call on Aaron when he comes back so he can pass on the experiences he has gained up there to people who are starting out in the industry and want to make a career out of it,” Mr Feldtmann said.
“We think it’ll be great to get that feedback from someone such as Aaron.”
Rabobank was keen to support an initiative that helped young people in farming .
“Certainly sharing of knowledge is something that stands out for me,” Rabobank Leongatha branch manager Russell Mann said.
“Because Aaron is well experienced in the cattle trade in southern Victoria – which is a very different game to where he’s going to go to – he will be able to share his knowledge as well. It’s a two way process.”
Mr Brown was keen to start his scholarship and said it was a fantastic opportunity.
“Being open to new opportunities and experiences – it doesn’t what career or field you are in – is very important,” he said.
“That for me seems to be the overriding reason for why I am doing it.”
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Posted by brad on Jun 12 2013. Filed under Rural News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
