John Ciavarella scholarship recipient Amy Ferguson passionate about ag sustainability

It was this enthusiasm and an excellent presentation on sustainability in agriculture that led to her receiving the inaugural John Ciavarella scholarship in July.

The scholarship seeks to broaden the reach and the understanding of employment and career opportunities within the farm machinery sector.

It is named after the late Mr Ciavarella, who firmly believed everyone deserved the opportunity to succeed, and was a true friend and mentor to many in the industry.

Her lecturers at the University of Melbourne encouraged her to apply after she spotted a notice about the opportunity.

After submitting her written application she was delighted to find out she was one of three to progress to the final round.

Ms Ferguson is normally based in Melbourne, where the TMA conference was held, but was unable to attend as she was completing an internship in Albury.

Instead, she joined via Zoom for her presentation.

"I wasn't expecting anything, partly because I wasn't there but also because it's such a brilliant opportunity," she said.

"I got the call that afternoon and my presentation was a resounding success by some accounts, which is absolutely lovely."

As part of the scholarship, Ms Ferguson receives a $5000 bursary, which is co-funded by the Tractor and Machinery Association of Australia and MacDon.

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The scholarship has enabled her to attend events like the Elmore Field Days in Victoria and meet a variety of people within the machinery sector.

"I'm so grateful to the TMA and MacDon for this scholarship," Ms Ferguson said.

"There's a lot of exposure to the industry and from that also talking to a lot of people and learning how we can make the sector more open and accessible to young people and different demographics.

"Going to these events is lovely but also having the connections and capacity to talk to people in the industry, it provides an in that I otherwise would not have had."

The 20-year-old has just completed her second year of a Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences and can't wait to get out onto different properties once she graduates.

She grew up on a small sheep farm half an hour from Castlemaine in central Victoria and has always been the type of person who worked outside with her parents.

"Going to high school you would hear all these ideas about different careers but I always thought, 'why would you want to do anything other than just be outside all day?'," Ms Ferguson said.

"Agricultural machinery poses this exciting opportunity that is often less talked about in the space of sustainability and within regenerative agriculture.

"Changes to how tractors are structured on a basic mechanical level provides an opportunity for cropping in terms of environmental security and sustainability."