Introducing Kate Shooter. Toowoomba.
After joining the team back in March, a quick chat on why she loves what she does and some top advice that she would have given herself when she was just starting out . Welcome to the team Kate !
Q. Where are you from ?
A. I grew up on a family farm west of Allora which I am still apart of today. Together with my family we grow sorghum, wheat, barley and the occasional mungbeans. I studied Rural Science at the University of New England before moving to Jandowae to start my career.
Q. What does your typical workday look like?
A. My typical work day generally starts with quite a few phone calls to growers discussing their concerns and the paddocks they might like me to look at. From there I will go out and inspect paddocks which could be fallows or looking at crops for pests and diseases. I then follow up with the growers and plan any of the chemicals that they may need dropped back to farm to complete the job. I then make my way back to Toowoomba in time to organise any chemical/fertiliser or seed that I may have discussed with the client, load it up for delivery on my way home.
Q. What do you enjoy most about your role?
A. I enjoy getting to work with growers to help them come up with solutions that makes their business as profitable as it can be.
Q. What do you enjoy about living and working in your town?
A. I like living in this area because as a grower myself I am facing generally very similar challenges on my own farm that the growers I work with are. This gives me a better insight into what the grower is going through.
Q. What 3 pieces of advice you would give your younger self?
A. Don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions when you are starting out and listen to the answers with an open mind.
Q. Don’t be afraid to talk to new growers.
A. You will talk about the weather with multiple people every day of the week.
Get used to looking at all of the different forecasts so you have an idea of what the weather is doing. When your first grower calls you will know exactly what they are talking about.
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