With an aim to match keen agricultural students with WA producers, the Farm-a Friend program was launched by the Western Australian Livestock Research Council (WALRC) at their Livestock Matters event in Fremantle last year.
It was so successful, the second offering of on-farm experiences will be launched in July.
"The Farm-a-Friend program had its roots with the success of our mentoring program we established for our WALRC scholarship recipients - each of them having been paired with a producer member of WALRC," Dr Bronwyn Clarke, chairperson of WALRC said.
"We have had a fantastic response to this initiative - which is not surprising as it's difficult to find a progressive producer who does not want to see the next generation of livestock researchers succeed and be relevant and connected with the grass roots."
Building on the initial program, organisers say the appeal of the Farm-a-Friend program lies in its simplicity.
Entry to the program requires in-person attendance at Livestock Matters so the first introduction between student and farmer is face to face.
"Once there's been a face-to-face contact established it's much easier to follow through and make the necessary arrangements for the farm visits," Dr Clarke continued.
"And, all we are asking people to commit to is two farm visits in the space of 12 months.
"But those two visits need to involve just quality time between producer and student."
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One person who took up the opportunity in 2022 was 21 year old Bryce Thomas, now in his third year of a double degree in Agricultural Business and Agricultural Science at the University of Western Australia (UWA).
Most unique about Mr Thomas' involvement is his total lack of farming background.
"I was born and raised in the suburbs in Perth, although my family did purchase a 10 acre hobby farm when I was a teenager," Mr Thomas said.
"I've always been drawn to the agricultural industry and love the outdoor, hands-on lifestyle."
So eager was Mr Thomas to pursue a career in agriculture, he chose to attend the WA College of Agriculture - Morowa for his secondary education.
"That was perfect for someone like me who didn't grow up on a farm and just confirmed to me that I wanted to be involved in the industry," he said.
When he heard of the Farm-a Friend program through university channels, he decided to go along to the Livestock Matters event and check it out.
"It was awesome and a great icebreaker to get to know people."
"Even one of my teachers from Morowa was there," Mr Thomas said.
Mr Thomas agreed to be matched with John Wallace, a farmer from Esperance, even though it was eight hours away from his home.
"The idea was to visit farms but I told John I wanted to work as well," Mr Thomas said.
"So, I went down for harvest and even ended up also getting my truck license."
Mr Wallace has a property of 6500 hectares running 2000 Merino ewes and cropping canola, wheat, barley and lupins.
He said Mr Thomas was a "good operator" and extremely keen.
"We communicated over the year and then when Bryce came down for harvest we had him operate our Claas 8900 harvester and do some drenching and other sheep work," Mr Wallace said.
Mr Wallace is a producer member of WALRC and has been part of the group since its inception.
"I really enjoy my involvement in the program," he said.
"I will definitely be involved again in the next round."
The program was organised by Esther Price from WALRC.
"We operate with a kind of 'speed dating' style during a 'meet the farmers' session in the last hour of conference", Ms Price said.
"This is not an internship program - simply a 'connection' program."
The call for farmers and students of agriculture to participant in the 2023 Farm-a-Friend program will be officially launched on June 23 during the WALRC Livestock Matters forum on a Nannup beef cattle property.
"We will be aiming for a cohort of 20 pair-ups," Ms Price said.
"Expectations will be that selected students and farmers must be available to attend in person, the face to face meet-up session on Thursday July 27 - held during the producer day of the AAABG conference (Australian Association of Animal Breeding and Genetics) at UWA.
"That is non-negotiable as we say nothing beats a face to face meeting to kick off a connection.
"If they can't make this event in person, then they go on the list for next year."
This event is where the students will be introduced to the audience and then WALRC will go through a process of matching each student to the farmer hosts.
Given the amount of interest from students and farmers, there will be a selection process to determine suitability of students to commit.
"This initiative is something we at WALRC are really proud of," Ms Price said.
"We see our role as developing a culture of ready communication between livestock researchers and livestock producers as this is what will help to help keep our research highly relevant and adopted by the end-user.
"We also believe that creating these strong and grounded relationships with producers will encourage these students to pursue a career in agriculture."
