WITH agriculture considered an essential service, Muresk Institute's general manager Prue Jenkins said it had been business as usual at the campus's farm operations at Northam.
Ms Jenkins said the working smart farm, which is at the core of Muresk's training, education and research operations, had continued to provide its students with learning opportunities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Muresk's research and development projects are still underway with social distancing protocols and hygiene practices being strictly observed," Ms Jenkins said.
One such example of the ongoing projects at Muresk is its partnership with the WA Stud Merino Breeders Association for a sire evaluation project, now in its fifth year.
"Feedlot efficiency trials and experiments, where students work with sheep technology, feed budgeting, marketing and industry networking are ongoing too," Ms Jenkins said.
Three research and development projects in partnership with Murdoch University have also continued onsite.
Ms Jenkins said the campus was continuing to operate throughout the pandemic, albeit differently.
"All of the learning spaces and resources onsite, including the computer labs, remain open to students who want to access them," Ms Jenkins said.
"Most training providers at Muresk are now delivering online learning in response to COVID-19 restrictions."
With three courses delivered by TAFE at Muresk, Ms Jenkins said WA TAFE colleges had adapted their delivery style to enable students to continue their studies.
The three TAFE courses now incorporate online learning and interactive technologies, as well as face-to-face delivery where necessary.
Curtin University, which delivers the associate degree course at Muresk, has also switched to online learning for its students.
While some short courses hosted by Muresk throughout the year have been postponed, people can still register interest for those courses via Muresk's website.
In its first year of operation as a trial site for a four-year desalination plant project in partnership with Murdoch University, Water Corporation, Wheatbelt Development Commission and Moerk Water, Ms Jenkins said additional funding would be provided to Muresk for another desalination plant, with an additional bore to be developed at another site on the farm.
"There are also a range of cropping trials, research projects and monitoring projects happening with organisations such as Kalyx, Intergrain, CSIRO, Curtin University, Carbon Ag Solutions, Greening Australia and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development," Ms Jenkins said.
