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Scholarship up for grabs for young tertiary ag students

Beef Central, 07/09/2022

YOUNG students enrolled in a tertiary course in agriculture or a related discipline have a great opportunity to gain valuable financial and industry support with applications now open for the 2022 Trevor Schoorl Memorial Scholarship.

The unique industry-based scholarship commemorates the contribution to agriculture of Trevor Schoorl and is backed by a network of well known and respected industry leaders.

Trevor was a highly-regarded figure in the Australian dairy, feedlot and contracting industries, and one of the country’s leading silage production and nutrition consultants who provided expert technical support to livestock producers, silage contractors and Lallemand staff throughout Australia, China, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. He was tragically killed in December 2018.

The Trevor Schoorl Trust was established in 2019 by Trevor’s family and friends to honour his outstanding contribution to the Australian forage and livestock industries.

It provides an annual scholarship to enable a student, 30 years or younger, studying a tertiary agriculture course or a related discipline, to further their knowledge of the practices in which Trevor had such a huge impact: forage preservation, free-stall dairy production and dairy nutrition.

Each $6500 scholarship provides an opportunituy to further knowledge of forage preservation, ruminant nutrition and livestock production via placements with some of Australia’s leading silage contractors premix, supplement and stockfeed manufacturers and dairy and feedlot operations.

Successful applicants will receive unprecedented access to work alongside some of Australia’s best dairy and forage industry operators and to get a ‘hands-on’ feel for what makes them successful.

Participating companies included BEC Feed Solutions, Lallemand Animal Nutrition, Masterchop Custom Silage, Moxey Farms, Priebbenow Silage Contractors, Riverina Stockfeeds, Stockyard Kerwee Feedlot and Wilmar Trading.

For the right person, this could be a life-changing opportunity. Hosts will provide food and accommodation for the duration of your project, while the Trevor Schoorl Trust will provide $6500 to assist with travel and other expenses.

Liam and Jessie’s excellent adventure

Previous scholarship winners, Jessie Lanyon and Liam Stienen, have recently completed a unique 10-week immersion program in the Australian livestock production and nutrition sectors.

Pictured with the two winners is Lallemand Animal Nutrition Managing Direction, Alex Turney, Genevieve Schoorl, and Nutriment Health Sales Manager, Andrew Doljanin.

Jessie Lanyon, a third-year student in the Bachelor of Agricultural Science/Bachelor of Agribusiness program at the University of Queensland, Gatton, said his six-week-stay with Moxey Farms was the highlight of his tailored program.

“I got to rotate through all facets of the business – feeding, livestock health, genetics and farming,” he says.

“I was amazed not only by the sheer scale but the attention to detail.

“Those ‘one percenters’ make a huge difference when you’re milking 8000 cows.”

Jessie’s passion for the dairy industry started with showing dairy cattle at high school.

For the past seven years, he has worked at Parker Pastoral, Kenilworth, which conducts a 700-cow TMR-based production system, during weekends and holidays.

He has also worked as a relief milker for several other local herds and as a university research assistant.

Jessie says the scholarship has firmed his intention to pursue a career in agronomy.

“This program has definitely broadened my mind about nutrition,” he says.

“I used to think nutrition was feed in the bunk.

“Now I realise that growing crops, making premixes and livestock management are all interconnected.

“At the moment, I am still focussed on working as an agronomist but I’d like to think it will be the start of a pathway to becoming a dairy nutritionist.”

I’d like to think it will be the start of a pathway to becoming a dairy nutritionist

Liam Stienen, who has recently completed his Bachelor of Agricultural Science/Bachelor of Agribusiness program at the University of Queensland, Gatton, says his placement with Priebbenow Silage Contractors was an eye-opener.

“I didn’t know what to expect, but after an hour of instruction was in the driver’s seat of a $750,000 forage harvester,” he says.

“It was amazing to see how the contracting team works together to get the crop off and how closely Lallemand works with growers, contractors and end-users to get the best silage outcome.”

Liam has a strong passion for intensive livestock production and worked in the university’s research dairy and pig units throughout his studies.

He is about to start an extended work placement program at North Florida Holsteins, which milks 10,000 registered cows at Bell, Florida, USA, and then 12 months on his uncle’s 350-cow automated dairy farm in Germany.

“This scholarship has really broadened my understanding of nutrition and agriculture as a whole,” he says.

“It really shows you the big picture that you don’t see at uni.

“It wasn’t until the end that I realised the wide range of business that are technically competitors but they all work together to provide quality livestock feed and ultimately, food for consumers.

“I’m proof that you don’t have to be the best student to win this scholarship – but you do have to be committed to getting the most out of it.”

Jessie agrees.

“This scholarship took us places that you don’t get to see at university,” he says.

“We weren’t visiting these companies for an hour or two; we were working across each business for five or seven days.

“A lot of our mates at uni and even the people we worked with said they wished they’d had this opportunity.”

The scholarship was established by Trevor’s family, friends and colleagues.

It is administered by Genevieve Schoorl, Lallemand Animal Nutrition Managing Director, Alex Turney and Nutriment Health Sales Manager, Andrew Doljanin.

“Something I took away from the scholarship was the genuine mentorship from Genevieve, Alex and Andrew,” Liam says.

“They really wanted us to get the most from this program and worked hard to create opportunities for us.

“The other thing was how much respect there was for Trevor Schoorl.

“At least one person in every business knew Trevor and it was clear what a big impact he had on their business and the friendships he had.”

Trevor Schoorl was a highly-respected figure in the Australian dairy, feedlot and contracting industries.

Graduating from the University of Queensland – Gatton in 1993, Trevor spent more than a decade working in the genetics industry in Australia and managing large dairy operations in the USA and the Dominican Republic.

In 2004, he returned to Australia as Technical Services Manager with Quality Silage Systems (now Lallemand Animal Nutrition).

He quickly rose to become one of the country’s leading silage production and nutrition consultants, providing expert technical support to livestock producers, silage contractors and Lallemand staff throughout Australia and Asia-Pacific.

Trevor had a thirst for knowledge and was always trying to find ways to deliver even better results for his clients.

He credited much of his success to actively seeking out the best operators and working closely with them.

His honesty, accountability, humility and hard-working nature earned him the enduring respect of his many clients, colleagues and friends.

Got what it takes?

Applications for the 2022 Trevor Schoorl Scholarship are now open and will close 30 September 2022.

To apply forward a cover letter, project synopsis, resume, education transcripts, contact details and referees to Lallemand Animal Nutrition.

For more information about the award click here and more details here on how to apply, or contact Alex Turney Lallemand Animal Nutrition 07 5451 0125 or 0419 00 55 11 aturney@lallemand.com Andrew Doljanin Nutriment Health 0439 087 254 andrew.doljanin@nutriment.com.au

 

 

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Comments

  1. Dick Slaney, Greenfields Indonesia, 07/09/2022

    Congrats to all involved in this fantastic program… When we weight it up with the loss of our Ag Colleges and the lack of labour across agriculture, it really is heart-warming to read of its success.

    Trevor would be incredibly proud and truly humbled..

    Trev is very well remembered in Indo .. Would be nice to link up some of our promising managers into such a program also.. I’ll talk to the boss..

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