Wee Waa family farm manager Daniel Kahl awarded one of just 23 prestigious Australian Nuffield Scholarships for 2017

Mr Kahl will receive a $30,000 bursary that will let him travel for 16 weeks, investigating where the next generation of farm managers will come from and how to attract quality candidates.

He and other Australian and international Nuffield scholars will travel to Brazil, Mexico, the US, Ireland, France and New Zealand, attending conferences, networking and researching.

Mr Kahl is the business manager of his family-owned and -operated company, Merced Farming – and said the Nuffield representative who called said he’d have to deal with the ‘tough news’ he’d be away from his post for four months of international travel next year.

Merced’s operations cover 7500ha, with 3500ha developed for irrigation, 800ha for dryland cropping and 2200ha of natural and improved pastures for livestock. In a full production scenario, the company produces 20,000 bales of cotton a year, plus other rotation crops.

Mr Kahl does commodity marketing, budgeting and cashflow monitoring, logistics and business admin. 

He said it was a challenge for Merced, and many across the wider agricultural industry, to attract skilled labour. 

“We can readily access labour to operate machinery and carry out cropping activities, but it is the roles at middle management level such as farm supervisors, those who can manage a team of plant operators or irrigation across a whole farm, that we struggle to fill,” he said.

Mr Kahl, who is also a second-rower for the Narrabri Blue Boars rugby union team, said he was excited at his selection, which included facing a panel of nine people in the state round in July.

“I walked in there with a black eye and couple of cuts on my nose, so that wasn't a great look,” he said, laughing. “I passed on the Moree Bulls’ best regards, since they were the ones who put them there.”

Mr Kahl was supported by Cotton Australia and the Cotton Research and Development Corporation.

The Nuffield Australia Farming Scholars’ mission is to develop potential and promote excellence in all aspects of Australian agricultural production, distribution and management through the adoption of local and international best practice, and continuous development of a unique network of industry leaders and innovators.