South West FoodBowl awareness days give students taste for agriculture careers and farming pathways

From robotics, live truffle dog hunts to pregnancy testing on beef cattle, students from across the South West had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of farming to learn about potential future careers in agriculture. The South West FoodBowl agricultural awareness days were held in Nannup on October 17 and 18 for students from primary school through to Year 10. SWFB president Barbara Dunnet said the event was a “success” with 700 students over the two days. Groups of students moved through various activities at Nannup Recreational and Community Centre, taking turns as other students were visiting farms throughout Nannup. “I’d say the kids 99 per cent engaged most of the time. When you go out there, it’s fairly quiet because they’re all taking interest,” Ms Dunnet said. “The presenters were really good, and they adjust whether it’s a high school group or Year 1 group, and keep it at the right level. I reckon they do a pretty good job. “For a lot of them (students), it’s probably the only opportunity they get to have some exposure to agriculture. “The fact that more schools are talking about trying to integrate it into their education program is a big bonus for us.” The biennial event aims to bridge the gap between farmers and the wider community to showcase agriculture careers and training opportunities. “It certainly does need to be rolled out in lots of areas around the State,” Ms Dunnet said. “If we all work together, we can expose more kids to agriculture and connect them up with various pathways. “We would like to go down the path where some of these schools that have been for a few years can incorporate it into part of the education program. “That’s a win-win, and if they can make it work with local farmers, it is an even bigger winner.” Among the farms involved were Cambray Sheep Cheese, the Out ‘N’ About Free to Roam Eggs farm and the Nannup Fresh Fruit crew. OM Dunnet and Co gave live pregnancy test demonstrations on their property in Nannup, and at the recreation centre, Rachel Lancaster and Alex Mitsopoulos from Environmental and Agriculture Testing Services conducted live demonstration on testing Ph scale, water and soil. On the oval, the students watched truffle dogs search and for the black perigord or French black truffles. “The more animals you can have in it — the better,” Ms Dunnet said. Don Hancey gave live cooking demonstrations with seasonal produce to build awareness on buying local produce and food security, which Ms Dunnet said was a “great success”.