TurfBreed’s own Gavin Howie from Turf NT, based near Humpty Doo 60km south east of Darwin, was special guest at a Melbourne Polytechnic webinar today talking to more than 80 turf managers of the future.
Gavin reflected on his journey to becoming a turf grower and the accident which saw him lose both legs and subsequently changed his future for ever.
Melbourne Polytechnic is based on the fertile banks of Melbourne’s Yarra River at Fairfield, adjacent to the highly regarded Yarra Bend Golf Course and provides one of the leading turf management courses to the turf managers of the future.
Gav stressed to the students about the importance of pre-start checks when using all forms of machinery.
“A little longer to make pre-start checks is all it takes to put your mind at ease – remember so easily the job can go south,” Gav added.
“Who cares if its takes five minutes longer to start the job – we are all within our rights to make sure the machine is safe.
“If you are driving the machine then you are in charge if something goes wrong.”
While Gav struggles to remember the details of the accident that changed his life, he has now taken a very front face in terms of spreading the importance of Work Health and Safety on farms.
Other questions from the students ranged from what varieties he was growing, who he supplied in the NT and a bit about the local wildlife – Crocodiles and Barramundi.
TurfBreed is growing a strong relationship with Melbourne Polytechnic after locating its southern Living Library at the site and is proud to support the education of the turf managers of the future.
Steve Burt, TurfBreed’s managing director, said these libraries enabled the Company to focus on researching the key characteristics of the varieties but to also have them all in one place to showcase to growers, prospective buyers such as residential, commercial as well as the sports sectors.
“Being located at Melbourne’s Polytechnic College also means the turf managers of the future are able to see first-hand our varieties and learn,” Steve said.
“Landscape students are able to take the knowledge of our varieties out to their prospective clients.”
Steve said it also gave TurfBreed the opportunity to see all our varieties in one location and how they performed under different seasonal conditions both north and south of the Country.