Passion to purpose on display at 2023 WMG Student Crop Walk
On Saturday 16th of September 42 students from UWA, Curtin University and Murdoch University joined the West Midlands Group for the third annual Student Crop Walk (SCW) at Velyere Farm, Badgingarra. The students were from different backgrounds, studying different degrees, but all had one thing in common: their passion for the Ag Industry. While the SCW is held at the same site as the Spring Field Day, we recognise there is a very distinct difference between a student audience and the farmer member audience. For this reason, the SCW is a separate event, held a few days before the Spring Field Day.
The SCW is all about meeting people from other universities, learning what life is like after study and having the opportunity to see what a trial site looks like. We want to make sure that students understand that to succeed in Agriculture, they need an attitude that says, “I’ll give it a go”, no matter what their experience might be. When I finished my degree, I had no background in farming and no practical ‘on the tools’ knowledge. I realised the only way I could learn was by asking as many questions as possible. There is so many amazing opportunities in Ag that I wouldn’t want students to be put off from going this industry just because they didn’t grow up on a farm!
It is not always an easy task to get students excited about soil, but Jenni Clausen (Murdoch University) managed to achieve this, guiding the students through a soil pit tour, which by all accounts was a highlight of the day. Joining Jenni on the day was UWA PhD student Amber Balfour-Cunningham to discuss the world of agricultural entomology, one that she has been a part of for the past 6 years at DPIRD. Following in the footsteps of his father Will who presented last year, Campbell Browne introduced everyone to their working dogs, and we even let Nathan talk about chickpeas (briefly!).
Finishing off the day was a panel session facilitated by Simon that included Millie Watson (Rabobank), Kaitlin Anderson (Facey Group) and Lauren Smith (AMPC). Each of these panellists are in their early career and in their few years after graduating they have represented what the Student Crop Walk is all about. Through their passion and enthusiasm, they have each made a difference in agriculture within their respective industries. The panel session had a strong focus on life after university, learning on the job and giving the scary opportunities a chance. The panel session was my personal highlight because each panellist was able to clearly communicate how they had ended up in Ag, illustrate the key messages of the day and show why they wouldn’t change their path to this fantastic industry at all.
WMG would like to thank all the presenters, students and teachers who attended the day and made it another successful SCW. Keep an eye out for details on next year’s event, and if you would like more information about the day, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with me.
