Horizon Scholarship supports future Grains leader
17/1/2018
The freedom of farm life led to a love of agriculture for 19 yo Matthew Hyde. Growing up on his family property of 13,000 acres in Dalwallinu Matthew grew to appreciate the different opportunities that were not available in the city where Matthew attended high school.
The freedom of farm life led to a love of agriculture for 19 yo Matthew Hyde. Growing up on his family property of 13,000 acres in Dalwallinu Matthew grew to appreciate the different opportunities that were not available in the city where Matthew attended high school.In fact, his time at Hale School in Perth only strengthened his interest in Agriculture leading to a Bachelor of Agribusiness at Curtain University after Graduation. Having completed his first year in 2017, Matthew has been recognised for academic excellence and become one of 15 students across the country to receive the AgiFutures Horizon Scholarship.
Sponsored by the Grains Research and Development Corporation, the Scholarship provides $5000 for each year of his 3-year degree. Matthew will also benefit from a range of workshops, networking events and work placement opportunities as a result of the prestigious commendation.
Matthew plans to use the scholarship to over the next couple of years to learn from different Agricultural practices around the world with a view to implementing the knowledge at home on his families farm.
“It opens up a lot of opportunities to explore the world and the area of agriculture,” Matthew said.
“I’m pretty keen to do a bit of travelling to see what agriculture is like around the world.”
While he is still planning the details of his world tour, Matthew has his sights set on the big grain production regions including North America, Canada and Europe as well as some developing countries that are just beginning to make their marks on the Agricultural world stage.
The Scholarship aims to further the industry by identifying the Ag leaders of the future and supporting their early development. In doing so increasing the supply of first class graduates available for employment in the rural sector.
Matthew was eligible as a high school graduate about to commence his first year in a full-time agricultural degree at an Australian University and as an Australian Citizen or Permanent Resident.
He was selected based on an outstanding academic record, leadership qualities and an obvious commitment to a career in Agriculture.
Matthew’s plans for the future are centred around the grain growing sector. His focus is on harnessing the data that is collected by the industry from soil tests, crop rotations and yields into a coherent format for more effective analysis.
“Currently utilising this information is very difficult as it originates from many sources and is kept in different formats,” Matthew said.
To this end, the Scholarship helped him to secure a part-time position with NZ based startup “AgriTrack” who develop real-time farm logistic management tools. Matthew has been able to work closely with the business owner and get experience and insight into a different part of the industry.
“I think it’s important to gain a holistic understanding of what ag entails because most people come from a background with very specific knowledge,” Matthew said.
“Seeing what other options are out there before you commit to one area is essential.”
