Name: Darcy Dayes
Age: 16
Location: QLD
Course(s) Studied: Certificate IV in Agribusiness
Provide some background details, what you farm, is it a family enterprise etc.
I have grown up on small acreage just outside Emerald QLD. My father is a mustering pilot so we often go out to larger properties and help muster and process cattle. I have been doing that since I was very little. We also had agistment on larger acreage and turned over fat cows before the prices increased.
Our family hobby is stockhorses, specifically training and competing for campdrafting and challenges. I have worked for a local trainer, Mistake Creek Performance Horses, since I was 10. Horses are my passion. I hope to work with Mistake Creek and make a career after I leave school from training performance horses full time.
Did you feel the training was relevant to your work on the farm?
I am completing the Cert 4 Agribusiness course and have combined it with units from Capricorn School of Dist Ed to achieve my QCE at the end of 2018.
Do you feel like you have changed/ improved how you work on the farm because of the training?
I hope so…. Still have lots to learn!
Do you feel like the trainers and resources provided during your training were helpful?
Yes, big shout out to Sarah Mosely for her incredible patience and support. And RuralBiz for sponsoring me to complete over next few years.
Would you recommend the course to others?
Definitely. I am really glad to be completing a course that will be useful to me in the future, at the same time as doing my QCE. It puts me in front of other graduates, both in time and with skills, when I graduate from school next year.
What was the best thing about studying with RuralBiz Training?
The flexibility to add in units that are more relevant to my interests and the option to self-pace. Some months I am away a lot travelling and competing and can’t get a lot of study done. On other months I really want to hook in and get through it quickly to catch up and, hopefully, get in front. This course lets me do this.
What’s next for you? Will you do more training or do you have plans to use your skills towards a project?
LOL…. If you ask me no. If you ask Mum…yes! Depends on what I end up doing but I will probably work for a while after I finish next year.
In the future I want to own my own property, run cattle and train horses professionally so this course will definitely help me do that.
What do you LOVE about living on the land?
Everything… I can’t do the “in town” thing.
Anything else you would like us to know?
Nope