Edenhope’s Jeremy Kealy is among three Wimmera farmers to be awarded a Young Farmers Upskill and Invest scholarship, to further their careers in their chosen fields.

Mr Kealy, along with Tom Hewitt and Mitchell McCrow, are three of 16 farmers state-wide to receive up to $10,000, made up of up to $5000 towards study, and up to $5000 to invest in putting new skills into practice, with professional development, business planning or other on-farm activities.

Mr Kealy, 31, returned to work on his family’s 15,000-head sheep farm near Edenhope about three years ago. 

He will complete a high-performance weaner course and a diploma of applied agronomy, and will purchase XR 5000 scales to provide a digital read out of livestock weight, draft on the animal’s weight parameters and record data using the electronic identification tag in the sheep. 

Mr Kealy said he has previously completed a lifetime ewe management course, among other workshops and short courses.

“The lifetime ewe course runs for 12 months over the cycle of the ewe – getting her in lamb and then following her while she’s lactating, and then weaning, and getting her in lamb again the following season,” he said.

“Lifetime ewe management is a prerequisite to do the next course, which is the high performance weaners course. 

“It follows the lamb, from feeding, then as a weaner, to getting it ready to join the mob as a one-year-old or one-and-a-half-year-old.”

Mr Kealy said the weaner course would help him improve his practices in sheep health and management.

“It’ll help me run bigger mobs in a better way, and hopefully reduce mortality on the farm,” he said.

“It’s definitely a bonus to be able to do the course – I would have done it one day, but this means I can do it now.”

Since the beginning of the scholarship program in 2015, the Agriculture Minister has awarded 133 young farmers, aged from 18 to 35 years, scholarships.

This year’s were presented at Parliament House.

Mr Hewitt, who runs a progressive cropping business in the Wimmera with his father and brother, will complete a certificate in content creation and social media in agriculture. 

His scholarship will enable him to purchase camera equipment and editing software to generate positive agriculture content to help promote the industry and break down barriers between the farmer and the end user.

Mr McCrow will complete lifetime ewe and farm owners academy take control programs, which will allow him to build his knowledge to confidently take over the family farm and build a productive sheep program.

Mr Kealy said he was grateful to the presentation event’s organisers.

“I’m not just thankful for the scholarship, but also for being able to meet other people from different fields, such as beef producers and broadacre farmers,” he said.

“It was good to meet others in the same age bracket all doing similar stuff but in different fields.

“After the tough season we’ve had, everyone’s a bit flat, it was just nice to be able to go and network with other young, enthusiastic, like-minded people.”

– Bronwyn Hastings

The entire November 27, 2024 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!

The entire November,27, 2024 edition of AgLife is available online. READ IT HERE!