Commitment pays off for farm worker

She was recently named Poultry Industry Trainee of the Year for 2016. The national award is given each year to the top-performing trainee in all of the training courses run by the poultry industry in cooperation with the Primary Industry Training Organisation (PrimaryITO). Amy, who is of Ngati Raukawa descent, is currently a Farm Worker at Aviagen New Zealand Ltd’s Taranaki production farms where her duties include general care and responsibility for the welfare of the poultry in her care. In her eight years with Aviagen, Amy’s experience has covered production and rearing, growing her husbandry skills through involvement from the placement of day-old chicks up to the end of lay of the flock. This extensive workplace experience certainly helped her to successfully complete a Level 3 National Certificate course in Poultry Husbandry, a one-year course aimed at personnel currently in or progressing towards supervisory or management roles. The course comprises a mix of on-the-job training, written assessments and attendance at a block course. Tanya Ingram, Amy’s course coordinator at PrimaryITO, says Amy’s determination and commitment to complete the qualification made her a very worthy recipient. “Amy contributed valuable ideas in class and the standard of her assessments was high. The combination of written theoretical work and study on top of full-time work commitments meant that it wasn’t an easy journey for her at times, but she really extended herself. Like her employer, we are proud of her.” Tina Bland, Aviagen’s breeder training assessor, describes Amy as a staff member who just keeps on giving.