Dairy apprentice of the year
NCDEA Gippsland student, Tom Mills has been awarded the United Dairyfarmers of Victoria (UDV) VFF/Elders Insurance Dairy Apprentice of the Year award at last week's UDV Annual Meeting and Conference, held at the Moama Bowls Club in Moama.
Tom is a 20-year-old dairy apprentice from Yanakie who is currently completing his Certificate IV in Agriculture at the National Centre for Dairy Education Australia (NCDEA) in Leongatha whilst working as a herd manager on a dairy property nearby.
Tom has completed a Certificate II and III in Agriculture and is currently undertaking the Certificate IV in Agriculture through the NCDEA. Tom credits the NCDEA with assisting him achieve his goals.
"All the qualifications greatly help me in my job as they are directly linked to my chosen industry," said Tom. "I gained invaluable knowledge that I put into practice on a daily basis. Without my training I would have found it quite difficult to progress up the rank to a managerial position such as the one I am currently in."
UDV President Chris Griffin said Mr Mills had demonstrated outstanding knowledge and passion for the industry, along with a strong ambition to remain involved in agriculture throughout his career.
"Tom has excellent knowledge of the key issues within the dairy industry, and demonstrates exemplary skills in his on-farm dairy work. He is passionate about motivating young people to enter the industry and looks forward to one day owning his own dairy farm," Mr Griffin said.
"It is important to reward young people for their achievements and leadership within farming. Such recognition encourages winners and their peers to continue to work hard to increase their skills and knowledge, thus helping to ensure that the future of our industry is in safe and capable hands."
"I congratulate Tom on his achievements and wish him well in his future endeavours," Mr Griffin concluded.
As part of his prize Tom will receive a 12 month VFF student membership and participate in the Geoffrey Gardiner Dairy Foundation 10 day study tour of New Zealand. He is also now in the running to be named the VFF/Elders Insurance Agricultural Apprentice of the Year, to be announced at the VFF Conference Gala Dinner in Bendigo on 24 June.
For more information on dairy training call 1300 0 NCDEA (1300 0 62332).
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