I arrived in Australia from Zimbabwe two days after our daughter was born at Geelong Hospital two years ago.
I was keen and rearing to go at what Australia would offer.
Thanks to my brother-in-law I was able to start work a week later at Idyll Wine Co.
Early this year, I enrolled at Marcus Oldham College to study agribusiness as a way of getting back into mainstream agriculture.
I felt at ease having familiar conversations with other people of a similar background once again.
Although everything I knew was from a different part of the world and the terminology slightly different, I found comfort knowing we were speaking the same language, the language of the land.
What has undoubtedly stood out for me is the efficiency of Australian agriculture and how far it has come to be among world leaders in creating and applying technology to production systems around the country.
Through all the studies and tours with Marcus Oldham College and additional personal travels I have observed that the challenges I had in Zimbabwe exist here too.
Dry spells at peak water requirement for our maize, long days and early mornings, seasonal commodity prices, erratic ground water quality, soils management, animal welfare, government support or lack of it, labour availability and skills shortage, land ownership and succession, access to capital and the countless social issues make up part of the endless list of challenges.
The issues were the same although they came in different shapes and forms.
What has undoubtedly stood out for me is the efficiency of Australian agriculture and how far it has come to be among world leaders in creating and applying technology to production systems around the country.
The emphasis on the bottom-line in this harsh operating environment blew me away (that’s why we are all out there).
I marvelled at the ingenuity of potato harvesting in South Australia, massive no till systems, delving in the Western Districts, livestock handling infrastructure, wheat and maize crop yields, pineapple farms near Brisbane, budgeting and mapping software, water system automation, robots and traceability in a chicken meat abattoir, mushroom farming and the sporadic Melbourne Markets have all been huge eye openers.
Time really is money.
The more efficiently you operate the better placed you are in the world market.
The need for technology is resounding back home and technology would make Zimbabwe far much more productive later alone competitive.
Australia has the right tools to thrive in its limited environment.
The scale, the tact, the strategy, and the precision in operations is truly another world to me.
Maybe one day I will be a conduit for knowledge transfer because I definitely do have something to write home about.
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