The 2022 Warialda Ag trip was once again an incredible experience for the Year 11 Science Aggies! The first day saw the students travel seven hours southwest and cross into NSW and to break up the trip they stopped at the Glen Innes Research Station. Here they were shown the latest technology in cattle yards and monitoring and learnt about establishing EBV (Estimated Breeding Values) for temperament for three different breeds of cattle. Year 11 student Adrian C noted “What I found most interesting was how agricultural technologies and machinery are used to monitor cattle. I appreciated being given the ability to operate some of the machinery and learn how those technologies are utilised.” The students then settled in for the night after their massive day of travel at Kwiambal National Park.
The second day had students up early and heading out to Bob and Kate Swain’s property “Gullbraith” for a day of shearing and learning about the sheep wool industry, including shearing, skirting, grading and packing wool. The students effectively ran the shed for the day and were able to produce two whole bales of AAA grade wool for the market. Bryce said “During this year’s Ag trip I experienced something I may never get to do again, shearing a sheep! It is something I never pictured myself doing, however, I’m glad I gave it a try.”
Sadly, due to flooding alerts, the students had to return back to the College and were unable to do the remaining visits that included horse riding, Speckle Park cattle breeding with embryo transfers and Goondiwindi Cotton production. However, the students loved every minute of what they were blessed to experience. Mac K stated that “This trip was a great trip as us students felt like a team and we all worked well together during the introduction of the sheep shearing and in the kitchen making our lunches and dinners.”
The Aggies have now written the most heartwarming thank you letters to all involved for the time and knowledge everyone gave them and it is a beautiful reflection of how grateful and wonderful the Year 11 Science Aggies are.
Jade King, Head of Agricultural Science
