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Shannon's love of the outdoors leads to agriculture traineeship

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Agriculture student Shannon Clay has followed his passion for working outdoors to develop his skills in agriculture with a focus on animal husbandry.

Shannon completed a Certificate II in Agriculture studies with South Regional TAFE Albany through an Agriculture Traineeship.

When Shannon was at school he couldn’t wait to get outside and do the hands-on work.

Shannon has developed his abilities in animal husbandry while working on the Kwarra Rural property, a beef cattle farm with some sheep and alpacas, for Sharmane and Bruce Mattinson.

“This is the first farm I’ve worked on,” Shannon said.

“I was in school before but my friend’s parents had a dairy farm and I loved to go down there. I like to try help them there and that’s how I got my love for working with cattle.

“One of my favourite things about working with cattle is either working them in the yards or moving them from paddock to paddock.

“My dream is to work on a cattle farm with thousands and thousands of cows,” Shannon said.

“Whether it’s dairy cows or beef cows, I don’t really mind if it's calves, bulls or anything."

Sharmane said Shannon had been really helpful around the farm and would be a valuable asset to any station or agriculture business.

“Shannon has been really hard working and dedicated,” she said.

“He has grown tremendously.

“Shannon has helped with native seeding on the property and has helped to control invasive plants by removing a lot of Sydney Wattle.

“He’s very good at wearing the right PPE and he’s a whizz on the bobcat, after spending time cleaning up after the recent storms."

Lecturer Leaya Bailey said Shannon’s dedication and work ethic were clear from the start.

“Shannon’s ability and his confidence in his ability has really grown over the year," Leaya said.

“It’s heartening to see a young person keen to pursue a career in agriculture and seek out further opportunities in the industry.”