Rachael McGrath is very much looking forward to the next 18 months as she travels down her Nuffield Scholarship path, investigating Australian farmers' adoption of technology including why farmers do or don’t take up innovation.
Rachael farms at Orford in south-west Victoria on her family’s farm, milking around 500 Jersey, Illawarra, Brown Swiss and Holstein cows.
She loves cows, and one of her key focuses has been corrective mating to improve the genetics of the herd to show cows under the Wootanga Park prefix.
“I do the majority of the breeding. Mum and dad let me step into the role without micromanaging me and I love reproduction and data collection, especially around health and heats,” Rachael said.
The farm business is about to transition across from collars to halter technology, and Rachael is looking forward to the data the move will bring.
“We have a lot of trouble with kangaroos knocking down our fences, so we are hoping, aside from the data that will come with it, we won’t be repairing fences in our future,” she said.
Rachael left school at 17 to work on the family farm, completing her Cert 4 in agriculture with RIST.
“While I was doing my Cert 4, I found out about the Gardiner study tour in 2019, and to be honest, participating in that has opened doors for me ever since,” Rachael said.
Her dairy journey has seen her continually strive to improve her knowledge over time.
She decided to apply for a Nuffield Scholarship after speaking with someone else who has been through the process.
“I am 32 now, and I have a real itch to involve myself more in the industry,” she said.
“There is so much technology available out there and it is rapidly changing.
“I am also interested in looking at what are the barriers and why some farmers don’t invest, is it cost, complexity or time, and of course, I am really keen to know what does and doesn’t work.
“Farmers are always looking at efficiencies, how to be more sustainable and create a good work/life balance and I believe technology adaptation is part of that.”
Rachael began the scholarship process in May, starting with a written application, followed by a state interview and then a national interview, which culminated in a final announcement at the national conference in Darwin.
“I am just over the moon, and I am looking forward to all the research, because this topic is really close to me,” Rachael said.
“It feels like I have joined an amazing community and the support is already second to none.”
Rachael said there were 80 original applications, 30 went to the nationals and 14 were successful.
As part of the scholarship, Rachael will travel to Canberra for a briefing, and Zimbabwe for the international scholars conference.
She will have an opportunity to participate in a global focused program as well as her own individual travel, which will see her go to New Zealand, Canada, The United States, Netherlands and Germany.
“Without knowing how I would go, I had already started to be tactical with our breeding program, as I have to work nine months ahead of schedule,” Rachael said.
She is hoping the overseas worker she has been waiting for since 2025 via the visa program will be well and truly settled by then.
“We just received notification approval has finally been granted, so we are just waiting for flights to be booked so they can join our other long-term staff – the visa program is just a mess,” she said.