Cropping initiative at Hermidale Public

Headed by Hermidale Public School's Skye Dedman and Rebekah Coddington, the crop was one aspect of the schools Growing Our Future project which had two elements, one being the cropping immersion project, and the other an educational, social, and cultural immersion project.

"We identified for our kids to have opportunities beyond our school gate," Mrs Dedman said.

"Given our location is rural and remote, we needed some good money behind it.

"We needed to think really big, and we needed to look at what our community can do to support our small school.

"We had seen this happening in other communities and other sporting clubs and it had been successful so we thought we would try it."

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Being responsible for the students' education, Mrs Dedman and Mrs Coddington said they developed the program around teaching elements of geography, science, and math curriculum outcomes to intertwine with the cropping process from sowing through to harvest.

"Looking at the variety of wheat available to us, the paddock to plate process, the scientific elements on how an actual seed grows," Mrs Dedman said.

"We are just making it real life for them," she said.

Mrs Coddington said they were able to integrate both sides to offer a really wholesome program.

For the past few years, the cropping project had been something Mrs Coddington wanted to see happen but with the recent mice plagues and droughts the community endured, sowing a crop was not a viable idea.

At the end of 2021, Mrs Coddington had said the time was right to sow the crop so the idea was pitched to the schools Parents and Citizens Association.

"They were all on board and keen to get involved," Mrs Coddington said.

"And people were keen to give up time, and donate machinery and seed.

"It has just grown since then in to this amazing things that we are all just in disbelief that it is all become this massive."

The crop was sown directly adjacent to the school on a donated paddock from former student Craig Grimond.

"We are pretty lucky, I think it was just there waiting for us," Mrs Coddington said.

A lot of the cropping labor was done by fathers and families of the school students while close community members put their hands up to donate money and machinery.

"They came on board from grading a road around the crop to ploughing, sowing, spraying, harvesting, bringing in trucks, it was just amazing, we were completely blown out of the water," Mrs Coddington said.

Mrs Dedman said when the community understands what the vision is, it is easier to get everyone on board.

"We are very passionate about agriculture out here and the parents and community can see that our students are going to be the future because they want their kids to be part of agriculture in this district," she said.

"For them, it was an easy sell."

"Once they see this program and that we are trying to embed agriculture in our future, and in our young kids, it just makes people have that hope that our faming industry is going to stay strong," she said.

Harvested in late November, the wheat was purchased by Arrow Commodities and will be transported to Newcastle for export.

One tonne of the wheat was sent the Ben Furney Flour Mill in Dubbo to mill 700kg of flour, which the students were able to sit in on and view the process.

Mrs Dedman said she hoped to take the students to Newcastle in February next year to see the process of the grain being moved from the train to the ships and then exported.

"We have had people from all across the world interaction on our Facebook page so what all started as a small idea has grown and it is absolutely far exceeded out expectations," Mrs Coddington said.

With the land being donated for three years, there are definite plans to sow a crop again next year and in 2024.

"Whether we sow wheat again or another grain, there have been a few suggestions thrown out there," Mrs Dedman said.

All proceeds from the crop went directly to the Parents and Citizens Association, with the money then donated across the school.

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