FOR those of us involved in WA's grains industry its easy to see why somebody like Kojonup Elders agronomist Courtney Piesse (27) is excited about his future.
Having graduated from the University of Western Australia (UWA) in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in agriculture with honours, and a bachelor of commerce majoring in marketing and management, Courtney had his eyes firmly set on returning to the family farm.
But not before he got some wider industry experience under his belt.
After graduating from UWA, Courtney moved to Merredin where he liaised with a wide Elders broadacre client base throughout the Merredin, Mukinbudin, Yilgarn, Westonia and Nungarin regions.
But a recent move back to his home town of Kojonup has meant a slightly different approach to grain-growing and agronomy in general.
Now consulting in Kojonup, Cranbrook and Katanning, Courtney was keen to contribute to the ever-changing grains industry by helping to impart eastern Wheatbelt tactics to Great Southern farming systems, which has historically been focused on livestock production.
"There are so many possibilities and opportunities for young people within every facet of the agricultural sector, whether it be in journalism, marketing, finance, sales, agronomy or livestock," he said.
"It's an amazing and innovative industry and we're really lucky to be exposed to a whole range of skills in the field.
"But my real interest is in contributing to long-term farm sustainability in the Great Southern."
Kojonup is renowned for it's rolling green hills and sheep and cattle production.
But Courtney believes there is a real opportunity for cropping systems to become a vital and lucrative part of many family farming operations within the region.
"Kojonup farmers are more focused on cropping than ever before and it's a great opportunity for me to help growers hone their skills and apply what I learned from working in the eastern Wheatbelt," he said.
"There is lots of room to integrate lower rainfall decision-making tools in our higher rainfall area."
Courtney said it was important for him to gain some agronomy experience somewhere other than his own backyard before returning home and he looked forward to seeing canola become a potential "money maker" in a higher number of Kojonup cropping rotations.
"There's also lots of potential for high-production pastures within the region," he said.
He said seasonal variability and the resistant ryegrass and wild radish problems proved to be one of the major challenges of working in the eastern Wheatbelt before returning to Kojonup.
"Trying to optimise growers' inputs without knowing what kind of yield or quality they're going to get back sometimes proved challenging," Courtney said.
Since moving back to Kojonup in the middle of the year Courtney's biggest challenge has again been the season.
The late break and its consequential wet periods meant he spent many of his first months dealing with strong disease pressure and weeds for a majority of his clients.
He said grasses and wild radish in local cereal and broad leaf crops had proven difficult to curtail and the combination of rampant powdery mildew in barley and sclerotinia and black leg in canola, kept him busy during the growing season.
Along with his father Derek and mother Sue, Courtney is also a proud fifth-generation farmer of the Piesse's 875 hectare mixed sheep and cropping property.
With a 2100-strong self-replacing Merino flock and 600 cross-bred Poll Dorset ewes, Courtney often lends his hands to some sheep work too.
"Ever since I was young I wanted to go back to the farm and perhaps one day turn it into a larger mixed enterprise," Courtney said.
"But at the same time I knew I wanted to get some industry experience before one day running the farm."
