“Due to adverse weather affecting large parts of Australia during the entry period we have decided to extend the closing date for Round One entries to Thursday, 7 April, 2011,” said Garth. “This gives a bit of extra time for those applicators affected by the weather – or simply running late – to get their entries in.”
2009 SPRAY Awards runner-up, Evan Lord, says the awards are a great learning experience and valuable not only for ranking yourself amongst your peers but also networking and meeting other people who are striving towards the same goals.
“Spray applicators can cop a bit of a bashing sometimes from people who don’t understand how hard we work to be responsible,” said Evan. “It’s great for the industry that these awards promote awareness of how hard people are working to do the right thing. When I entered the awards I found it was a really good opportunity to take a second look at what I was doing and I actually made a few changes here and there to make sure I was really doing the best job possible.”
Since becoming the New South Wales winner of the SPRAY Awards, Evan has been promoted from Assistant Manager at a farm in NSW to Farm Manager at a new property, owned by Warakirri Pty Ltd, ‘Wyobie’, on Queensland’s Darling Downs.
All of Wyobie’s 3,200 hectares are dedicated to growing sorghum, chickpeas, wheat and cotton. Winter crops like wheat are grown on land that has been kept weed-free over the previous summer, while summer crops are grown on land kept under fallow for at least the previous winter. Evan and his team limit the amount of insecticide application required for the cotton crop by growing a combination of conventional and bio-engineered cotton. High levels of nitrogen fertiliser are used on the sorghum.
“I have suggested that our spraying team should enter the SPRAY Awards,” said Evan. “Having been through the process, it certainly gives me a much better insight into what tips and tricks I can pass onto the guys and what things we need to be really aware of.
“For example, Wyobie is surrounded by very sensitive crops, which really limits herbicide options and spraying windows, so we have to be very careful and take those things into consideration each and every time we spray.”
These types of sensitivities can make for a very compelling SPRAY Awards entry, according to Garth.
“What we’re looking for in the winning applicator is a real commitment to excellence, and that includes being aware of your environment and surroundings and modifying your spraying program accordingly,” he said. “Focusing on things like safety and efficiency is key.
“You don’t have to be a huge operator to have a chance in the awards because the judging is very much on a case-by-case basis. We go on-farm with state finalists to really see their operation in action. The overall winner will receive a study trip to the UK valued at $15,000 – so it’s definitely worth entering!”
Evan agrees.
“The whole experience was very positive, from learning about the judging criteria to attending the awards dinner at AgQuip in Gunnedah, NSW,” he said. “I really enjoyed meeting other people from around the country who might have all been from different industries but all had the same goal in mind – to do the best job we can with the tools we’ve got. It reinforced for me that there are other people doing this job in a similar way, so we’re all on the right track.”
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