A Kempsey, NSW, year 11 student Mae Turnbull is completing her Certificate III in Agriculture as part of the Student Based Apprenticeships and Traineeships program.
The St Paul's College student is in a placement program at an Austral Eden, NSW, dairy farm owned by Michael and Rebecca Jeffery.
Mae works every Monday, the weekends and during the holidays at the farm, and is planning a career in agriculture.
The Jeffery family has been farming at Austral Eden, near Kempsey, in a family partnership for 27 years.
Michael is chairman of the board of Norco and is the chairman of the Kempsey Dairy Industry Group.
Norco is a 100 per cent Australian farmer owned dairy co-operative established in Byron Bay in 1895.
St Paul's vocational education and training leader Graham Bramley said there were huge shortages of skilled rural workers across the country and plenty of opportunities for young people.
The course offered students a comprehensive set of practical skills and the chance to specialise in a particular type of farming, he said.
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