Nambour State College is home to one of the most unique, and perhaps under-recognised, teaching facilities in Queensland — a fully working dairy farm.
And the students absolutely love it.
The farm, which is located towards the back of the campus, involves the daily milking and feeding of around 50 cows and calves, as well as managing two huge sows and their new litters of piglets, some goats, miniature horses and chickens.
The facility is believed to be one of only two like it on school grounds in Queensland.
“It’s very unique to have a dairy that students can actually get involved in, you just don’t see that these days,” Sheldon Free, the college’s Head of Agriculture, said.
“They enjoy being hands-on, they enjoy seeing where their food comes from, they enjoy being a part of that.
The learning facility gives students unique knowledge and experience, builds confidence around livestock, a sense of responsibility, and an opportunity to get a head start in related career pathways.
“You won’t get experience like this at too many other places,” Mr Free said.
The students work in dairy farming, including showing cows at various agricultural shows around south east Queensland. They also get involved in showing miniature horses and providing piglets, goats and chickens for animal petting nurseries.
Year 10 student Kaytlin Champness said the farm gave her a foundation toward a career in teaching agriculture.
“You can get experience working with the pigs; some of us in the classes will work with the cattle, and you’ve got your show teams with the horses and the cows,” she said.
“I came here because I heard about the show team when I was in primary school, and I’ve been doing that for about four years, with the cattle; it was a big deciding factor for me.”
The cattle showing students are regulars at the Maleny, Caboolture, Gatton and Woodford shows, and sometimes the Gympie Show.
Year 10 student Jane Crutchley hopes the farm may help her along the path to becoming a veterinarian.
“It brings up a lot of opportunities – if you wanted to do something with animals when you’re older, you can get the experience from here,” she said.
“Last term we did milking and that was a really good experience for me, because that’s the first time I’ve been fully hands-on with the cow. We do it with the machine but there are opportunities where you can hand-milk.”
The College has in the past conducted public milking demonstrations at the Brisbane Exhibition (Ekka).
“I enjoy it overall, it’s a good experience for the students,” Year 10 student Lauren Robinson said.
“You get to play with the animals, interact with them, when you’re in a pen with the piglets you get to bond with them and learn all their personalities, and the same with the cows and miniature horses, you learn their personalities.”
Mr Free said the farm received plenty of help from the community, including dairy farmers Jock Johnson and Steve Ledger, cattle breeding adviser Ashley Blinco, and from Parmalat’s Nambour factory, which takes the school’s milk.
The facility is believed to have been at the site for at least 70 years, first starting as a type of farming college before the school started and eventually developed into today’s Nambour State College. The farm remains a key part of the Nambour campus for the students.
“They really enjoy coming here and utilising it,” Mr Free said.
“With the dairy industry in the dilemma that it’s in, it’s good to try and keep it going.”
— Richard Bruinsma