Farming in a new country means new opportunities for Jacquelien Pol.
Jacquelien moved with her family from The Netherlands to Jancourt East three years ago, where they now milk 250 cows on a farm six times the size of their previous property.
Now with the support of a DemoDAIRY Foundation scholarship, she’s pursuing her own career in agriculture.
Jacquelien was still in secondary school when the family moved to Australia.
“I started school in Australia halfway through Year 10,” she said.
“I had meant to start earlier, but it was in lockdown, so we decided it would be best if I started face-to-face, especially because English was not my first language.”
She quickly overcame any language barrier.
“When I went to school, I spoke more English in a day than Dutch and that’s the way to learn,” she said.
“People tell you when you say things wrong and you learn pretty quickly.”
Jacquelien liked to help out on the farm in The Netherlands, mainly with milking and calf raising, and she’s now doing nine milkings a week at a neighbouring property while studying a Certificate IV in Agriculture at RIST.
The family’s south-west Victorian farm covers 190 hectares, a far cry from their 33ha property in The Netherlands.
“In The Netherlands you’re restricted by all the changing laws, and it’s expensive,” Jacquelien said.
“My brother did an internship in Australia in 2017 and came back all enthusiastic.
As a family, we considered farming somewhere else and took a trip to Australia and liked it.
My parents left the decision up to me and my brothers and we all saw that we have more opportunities here.
“How we’re farming now we couldn’t do at home. We graze 24-7 here, but in The Netherlands the cows were in the barn 24-7.”
Jacquelien is taking a gap year and plans to study either animal and vet biosciences or agriculture at La Trobe University in 2025.
She had an offer for the biosciences course this year but deferred and will now have to reapply after receiving permanent Australian residency earlier this year.
She will also consider veterinary science, although she says the specialisation of vet work in Australia doesn’t appeal as much as the varied nature of the profession in The Netherlands.
“When I’m on the farm, I love to do the animal side of things. I’m more into working with animals than machinery,” she said.
Jacquelien said the DemoDAIRY Foundation scholarship was giving her studies a great boost.
“Being international, there are not a lot of opportunities for scholarships, especially in agriculture,” she said.
“We reached out at the start of the year after we’d achieved permanent residency, which made it easier.”
She will receive up to $5000 a year for three years.
“It’s great because it covers my fees to study at RIST this year and I can save up for going to uni.”
For more information on the DDF or the Powell Legacy Fund, visit: https://www.demodairy.com.au or phone DDF secretary Ian Teese on 0427 358 987 or itag@bigpond.com