Gunnedah High School (GHS) will soon be on its way to expanding its agricultural department after the Department of Education and Training signed off on a new plot.
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The 11-acre plot on Torrens Road was offered to the school in early 2017 by Whitehaven Coal and will be a big step up from the existing 2.5-acre agricultural plot on school grounds.
GHS agricultural teacher Nicole Dwyer said it will make the school competitive because it will be able to offer the largest agricultural program in Gunnedah.
The new development will also meet the existing demand for agricultural education within the school.
“Almost half the school does ag or Primary Industries,” Ms Dwyer said.
Current agriculture students will be put to work in preparing the new plot, with Year 12 to start pulling down the existing fencing on Thursday and Year 11 to spearhead the farm’s preparation.
“Year 11’s next assessment will be a farm case study and they will plan the infrastructure (fences, troughs, yards etc) and do gross margins to suggest what enterprises they think will be best there. They will do mapping and soil tests to see what it is suited for,” Ms Dwyer said.
Ms Dwyer said the new plot will probably be divided into four paddocks to allow for rotation. There are plans to set-up a sheep operation, bee hives and cropping, but it’s all on hold for the moment.
“Because of the drought, obviously, we’re not going to be putting much livestock on here yet,” she said.
“Next year, I hope to have winter crops in – oats or barley to feed the sheep.
“If the drought doesn’t break, it’s going to be a waiting game… It’s a silver lining in that we’ve got the time to get ready.”
Year 12 agriculture and Primary Industries student Haylee Murrell is particularly keen to be involved in setting up the new farm because she is interested in property planning.
“To experience on a larger scale the difficulty of managing a property, prepares us more for life skills,” she said.
“For all the younger kids, especially Year 7 and 8, this is so good for them to come out and learn what farmers need to do feed their livestock and maintain their farms.”
Fellow student Myles Conn said he has spent a lot of time on a family farm and is looking forward to improving his skills in livestock handling and learning how to look after cattle and sheep on a larger scale.
Ms Dwyer said “kids learn by doing” and the new plot would be great for hands-on experience.
“It suits the kids we’ve got. They’ve got a real passion for this,” she said.
“For them to be able to use their theoretical knowledge in a practical application is what ag is all about.”
The school hopes to develop community partnerships to enable access to equipment and supplies that will be needed. HE Silos, Pursehouse Rural and ArrowQuip are already on board to help.
Relieving principal Ken White, and agriculture and science head teacher Karen Kruse said the project was in good hands but the school will need the community’s support to make the most of it.
“It’s a country town and it’s important to work together and get all the support we can,” she said.
Ms Dwyer echoed their thoughts and said it’s an effective way to retain our youth.
“Those community partnerships are invaluable because it also encourages kids to go back into the ag industry and the community is crying out for the kids to stay in town,” Ms Dwyer said.
