General News
20 January, 2021
Scholarship to help Jack Hutt’s farming future
JACK Hutt was still in primary school when he first fell in love with farm life.
JACK Hutt was still in primary school when he first fell in love with farm life.
By the start of secondary school he was milking cows for pocket money and eyeing a career on the land.
He was employed on Brad Couch’s dairy farm at Brucknell as a 17-year-old and was barely 20 when Peter and Jenny Corneby, the parents of his partner Isabelle, came up with a share agreement to manage a 102 hectare dairy farm at Bostocks Creek.
The 23 year-old father of two was recently announced as the recipient of a $5000 DemoDAIRY Foundation scholarship to complete his Diploma of Agriculture at RIST.
He said the scholarship and Diploma were important steps towards one day owning his own herd and buying some land for his family.
“I didn’t grow up on a farm, but my uncles had farms and my grandparents had a dairy
farm down Simpson way. I spent a lot of time down there when I was a kid,” he said.
“Farming was just something I knew I wanted to do. I milked at Woody’s (Greg Darcy) around the corner when I was 12 for pocket money…I just wanted to do it.”
Jack said he was fortunate to have great mentors around him, but he wanted more knowledge and improved business skills so he was less reliant on the help of others.
“Izzy and I are doing more on the business side of things now and rather than getting people like Peter and Jenny to help us, I want to be able to run the farm myself,” he said.
“I think the diploma will give me the skills to run the books myself and do a good job of that rather than relying on accountants to sort things out for me.
“I’m passionate about growing quality pasture and healthy cows as well, so it will also improve my agronomy knowledge and just help me take on more myself.”
Jack said the young family of four were loving life on the farm.
He said he enjoyed the commitment and getting the rewards for hard work.
“It can be tough, but if you get through the tough times it’s pretty rewarding,” Jack said.
“When we took over this place it was a bit rugged, but now we’re starting to see some rewards and the hard work is paying off.
“The lifestyle is great – especially with the family. I can have the cows milked by 8am and have breakfast with them.
“Then, if I’m doing something nice and safe around the yard or in the shed, the kids will come and knock around with me for a bit – it’s great…we love it.”
Five DemoDAIRY grant streams are still available for prospective applicants and include:
Business management skill development: Scholarships of $2500 to $5000 per year to agreed courses;
Dairy business management projects: Grants of $1000 to $2000 to create awareness in appropriate education organisations and assess proposed projects;
Innovation grants: Up to $5000: Offered through the contracted service providers (currently Agriculture Victoria, WestVic Dairy and some dairy companies) to the groups;
Capacity development grants: Grants of $2000 to $5000 to screened candidates;
Emerging issues grants: Short proposals developed with relevant industry stakeholders and reviewed by the DemoDAIRY Foundation board; and
Powell Legacy Fund: Up to $3000 annually for up to three years across the areas of education, agriculture and volunteering.
Applications can be completed online here www.demodairy.com.au/scholarships-and-grants/ application/.