Name: Debbie Jackson
Location: Northern Tablelands, NSW
Course(s) Studied: Diploma of Agriculture
My husband and I purchased a small property in the Northern Tablelands of NSW in 2017. I was completely new to working in the agricultural industry, however having previously worked as a business analyst in IT, I had great skills for researching the ‘ins and outs’ of beef production.
Our business started as a cattle trading enterprise and we soon shifted our focus into breeding. This required an expanded set of skills and knowledge. I found very useful resources online and through our Local Land Services but began to understand that my unstructured method of learning had resulted in skills and knowledge that was a ‘mile wide but only an inch thick’. This wasn’t particularly helpful in improving our decision making!
I was fortunate to come across the Diploma of Agriculture offered by RuralBiz. Undertaking this course has been so helpful as it has formalised my learning about the wider agricultural industry as well as supporting the development of plans and tools for use within our cattle breeding enterprise. The practical nature of the units has enabled me to consolidate my skills and knowledge in areas directly relevant to our business and I can see the improvement in the quality of our decision making. Thanks to the team at RuralBiz – I thoroughly enjoyed the study, the support was excellent and I would highly recommend RuralBiz!