THE first interns to complete the inaugural Livestock Consulting Internship program graduated from the two-year program last Thursday, marking a significant milestone along their career path as livestock consultants.
All nine interns who started the program in 2015 graduated at an event hosted by Meat & Livestock Australia in Sydney, after completing internships with participating livestock consulting businesses throughout Australia.
The graduates were Dan Korff, Hannah Franz, Mark Buttenshaw, Anna Ingold, Max Vowell, Lexi Cesnik, Emma Egan, Rebecca Reeves and Emily Sims. Participating consulting firms included Brennan Mayne Agribusiness, Agripath, Sheepmatters, Meridian Agriculture, Outcross Agri-Services, RMCG, Planfarm, Sally Martin Consulting and Moses & Son.
The internship program is designed to ensure the continuation of new consultants to the industry through a structured format that underpins the cost of livestock consulting businesses taking on entry-level employees. It is supported by the MLA Donor Company and managed by Meridian Agriculture.
The project was established as a partnership between MDC and participating consulting firms in 2014 and started accepting interns the following year.
MDC chief executive officer Dr Christine Pitt said following the success of the first round of the Internship program, MDC is supporting a second round and another 10 people recently commenced internships. This new cohort joined the recent graduates at last week’s event.
“A formal mentoring component has been introduced with the first round of interns who graduated from the program last week having been matched with the new interns to provide support and guidance,” Dr Pitt said.
“Livestock consultants require knowledge of the latest research and technology to help their clients remain competitive.
“This program provides valuable personal development support, practical skills and access to industry networks whilst the interns undertake a Graduate Certificate in Agricultural Consulting,” she said.
“Over the two years, they also identify, develop and implement a major industry research project, giving them a real-world understanding of the implementation of research and development.
“We congratulate the nine interns who have completed the program, and thank the consultancy businesses which have given them the opportunity to pursue a career in this field,” Dr Pitt said.
Industry projects undertaken by the interns, which ranged from investigating cattle shrink in saleyard situations to an analysis of adult learning within the producer group structure, will be published on the MLA website in the coming months.
Source: MLA.
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