27/08/2026
🌾 Western Agriculture & Business Studies Tour – Days 2 & 3 🐟🌱🚜
Day 2 of our Western Agriculture and Business Studies Tour took us to the Narrabri Fish Farm, where we met Rick and jumped aboard the tractor tour trailer for a look around the property.
Rick began by showing us the tourism side of the business, which provides accommodation, meals and entertainment for passing travellers alongside the working fish farm. Students saw plenty of fish while Rick explained the intricacies of breeding Murray cod, including the spawning process and how the fish are raised and matured. It was a great example of how an agricultural enterprise can diversify its operations to create additional income streams.
After a very welcome BBQ lunch, we set off for the CSIRO Australia Telescope Compact Array, home to six impressive 22-metre dishes. Students had the opportunity to see the telescopes up close and learn how they work together to collect radio waves from space. 🔭
From there, we arrived in the rain at Cotton Seed Distributors (CSD), the largest cotton seed distributor in the Southern Hemisphere. CSD works closely with major research organisations, including CSIRO, to support the continued development and testing of new cotton varieties. We toured the facility, learnt more about its operations and research partnerships, and students were introduced to the wide range of career opportunities available within the cotton industry.
A big thank you to CSD for welcoming us, sharing their knowledge and providing a fantastic afternoon tea of steak and sausage sandwiches! 🌱🥩
Day 3 brought a very wet outlook following overnight rain — unfortunate for our planned itinerary, but certainly welcome news for growers across the region! 🌧️🌾
With the wet conditions requiring us to shorten our program, we headed to Tyrone Pastoral, where we met Angus, who gave students a fantastic insight into the workings of their family farming business. The operation includes predominantly dryland cereal cropping and cotton, alongside sheep, cattle and a feedlot.
Angus showed us some of the technology being used across the farm, including their new John Deere S7 automated header. He also spoke to students about the management side of the business, explaining how he uses forecasting, seasonal conditions and market information to make decisions about the future direction of the enterprise.
We then moved on to the farm’s grain storage facilities, which include approximately 3,500 tonnes of silo storage. Angus explained how having their own storage gives the business greater flexibility to hold grain and sell or distribute it when market conditions are most favourable — a great real-world link between agriculture and business management.
Next stop was the feedlot, where the smells proved a little challenging for some of our students! 😂 Angus explained how they utilise products from across the farming operation, including on-farm grain silage, cottonseed and molasses, as part of their cattle rations.
After walking through the feedlot and seeing cattle at various stages of finishing, we tucked into another very welcome steak sandwich. Angus then spoke about the different cattle markets they supply and the specifications producers need to meet for different buyers — another valuable insight into the business decisions that sit behind agricultural production.
A massive thank you to the Carrigan family and Tyrone Pastoral for being so generous with their time and for accommodating our group despite the very wet conditions. We greatly appreciated the opportunity to see such a diverse farming operation firsthand and to hear about the business decisions, technology and planning behind it. 🚜🌾🐂
