BCG technical officer Daryl Burdett’s family farm is near Hopetoun. With a long farming career behind him, Daryl’s knowledge and practical skills are highly valued at BCG.
I have lived and worked on the family-owned cropping and sheep farm, which is 10km west of Hopetoun, for most of my life.
I was a third generation farmer. Initially I farmed with my parents Bob and Iris, and later my wife Marg. The majority of the farm was used to produce crops (cereals and pulses), but we also produced fat lambs.
The biggest change I saw on the farm came about with the introduction of direct drilling and auto steer. This improved our ability to get our crops in efficiently.
After a farm accident in 2004 I had a change of lifestyle. We leased the farm in 2006 and in 2010 we moved into town (Hopetoun).
I started with BCG in 2008. I work in field operations which includes coordinating the maintenance of all our BCG equipment, sowing and harvest. I’m also part of the work health and safety (WH&S) committee.
At the moment, we’re preparing for harvest and I’ve been running some header training for the new field staff who have joined the organisation this year.
It’s going to be a busy harvest at BCG but hopefully we see some big yields too. I enjoy this time of year – it’s when we get to see the performance of some of the new lines (crop varieities) coming through.
I like getting out and seeing the countryside at the various BCG research sites across the Wimmera and Mallee and working with a great group of people. One of the other things I love about this job is the people you meet along the way – our members, farmers from around Australia, industry people and even international guests.
Outside of work I keep involved with the Hopetoun community – I follow the Giants (combined Hopetoun and Beulah football team) in winter and play Bowls for the Hopetoun Bowls club in summer. I also enjoy doing projects around the house and chasing grandkids.
