Isabella Nolan (2014/15 Agriculture Awardee) Report

Isabella Nolan (2014/15 Agriculture Awardee) has recently sent us her report about her trip to the UK and it is great to read that she was able to stay so busy and gain so much from the trip. We have included snippets from her report below, but to read the full report Click Here.

Issy“I did not hesitate when applications for the 2014/15 BBM Youth Support Award to travel to the UK were handed out towards the end of my final year at Tocal.”

“During my stay there I got to meet many of the local farmers and they shared with me an insight of what day-to-day life is like on a British farm.”

“Whilst in East Anglia I visited the Suffolk County Agricultural Show and the Norfolk County Agricultural Show. I went to the Suffolk Show as a visitor but thoroughly enjoyed looking around and comparing it to Australian Agricultural Shows. This gave me a different perspective and it was very interesting to see “behind the scenes” of a horse show and to see the many different types of British Ponies.”

“On the 9th June, my cousin drove me up to Leicestershire, about 2 hours from Lawshall, where I would spend the next week with the Livesey family. This was a contact that I had been given by Amy (last year’s awardee). She told me that they ran a mushroom farm and had pedigree Hereford cattle. This appealed to me because I had never had anything to do with mushroom farming before, nor had I much experience showing cattle.”

“I was one of four people to attend the “Three Counties Agricultural Show” with the Livesey family as part of their showteam. Having never showed cattle before it was an eye opening experience. Coming from working on a property in Australia where it was very dangerous to get in the same yard as our bulls, to having a bull tied up, are washed, blow dried, clipped, brushed, sprayed and led around a ring with 10 other bulls was hard for me to comprehend.”

Organic dairying and rotational grazing research by Dennis G. Johnson, U of MN West Central Research and Outreach Center, Morris. Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station project #16-47, "Feeding Management and Utilization of Nutrients by Dairy Cattle," principal investigators Dennis Johnson and James Linn.

“As this was a once in a lifetime opportunity I would definitely recommend to future awardees making the most of every opportunity by spending as much time as possible over there, because believe me, the time flies! I went to the UK without much of a plan because I knew things were going to pop up unexpectedly and things weren’t always going to go to plan. I never said no to any farming experience that would broaden my agricultural horizon.”

“I tried to meet as many new people as possible and as a result have made some really great friends. The hospitality, kindness and generosity of farmers, locals and fellow travellers that I experienced in the UK and Ireland was far beyond what I had hoped for. The families I stayed with were so welcoming and really made me feel at home. They all looked after me very well and were so willing to help expand my agricultural knowledge and experiences. They were very interested in learning how we do things in Australia and to compare the differences and similarities in farming practices and I hope that I have been able to broaden their horizons.”

“I would definitely recommend travelling, especially alone. I believe it takes you out of your comfort zone, pushes you to you do things you might not otherwise do, meet new people, explore, get lost, grow into a new person, appreciate what you have, and if you’re staying in hostels while travelling, you definitely learn to appreciate your own bed and a clean shower!”

 

11th February, 2016

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