“We continued to talk in the months following that trip and at the end of 2019 Tom reached out to talk about what options might be available to him in regard to virus control and crop protection more broadly,”
“Tom told me he was open to new ideas and he very much struck me as a forward-thinking farmer. The more I got to know him it became apparent that he was always striving to not just have his operation in line with best management practices but exceed them.”When travel restrictions were enforced in March 2020, Kate identified an excellent opportunity to work more closely with Tom and Michell Pontarelli on farm through their key supplier EE Muir and Son’ agronomist Tom Andison.
“When the pandemic hit it meant I could utilise some of my skills as I was bound to my own backyard so to speak and while it felt frustrating initially it gave me an opportunity to really get my hands dirty again and work side by side with the agronomist,” Kate said. “It was a silver lining opportunity to challenge myself from a professional point of view and walk the walk and talk the talk on the ground at a granular level and have discussions that were the foundation of farm decision making,” she said.