A CHILDHOOD push from his mum, who was also a teacher, to never stop learning is one of the key reasons for Ben Cavanagh's early career success, with the young farmer already an operations supervisor just two years after finishing university.
Mr Cavanagh grew up on his family's cattle, sheep and cropping farm at Quindanning, went to boarding school at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School and, after taking a gap year, completed an Agribusiness degree at Curtin University which he graduated from in 2019.
"When I first went away to high school I thought I might go into physiotherapy or something similar, but when I was away at school I really missed the farm and pretty quickly switched back and decided agriculture was what I really wanted to do," Mr Cavanagh said.
"I missed being busy all the time and having a sense of ownership of what's going on around the place - having a gap year and working on the farm really cemented that for me before I went away to uni.
"Being a family farm you're fairly invested in it even if you don't always have a say in the decisions - there's always that part of you that knows you're working towards something worthwhile all the time, even if it's not obvious that day, there's always a gain to be made."
The agribusiness degree at Curtin was the obvious choice as Mr Cavanagh wanted something that mixed both the science and business sides of farming.
While he was more interested in the economic side of the degree, the science part was still interesting and there was also enough of a hands-on component that he felt there would not be much of a step between reality and study.
Two days after his last exam, Mr Cavanagh drove to Pardoo station, about 150 kilometres north of Port Hedland, where he had secured a job as an operator.
Pardoo had 20 centre-pivot irrigators growing cattle fodder, grass, corn and sorghum, with Mr Cavanagh jumping on the farming crew, mainly making hay and fertilising grass.
"I picked Pardoo because it was in the middle of nowhere and I wanted to push myself - it was an extreme place to go and something that was really out of my comfort zone," he said.
"The basic principles of farming remain the same, but it's a completely different environment and irrigation is far different to relying on the rain.
"It was funny when I would talk to dad and tell him I'd put out 20 millilitres of water for the day, he would just shake his head and think how much he would love to be able to just turn a switch and water his crop."
Mr Cavanagh worked at Pardoo station for about 14 months.
In that time he progressed from being an operator to the leading hand and for the last six months he was made the crop and irrigation superviser.
That final role meant he was in charge of irrigating all the pastures and almost running the program, an experience which taught him a lot very quickly.
"I went out of my way to make it really obvious that I was there to learn and not just go through the motions," Mr Cavanagh said.
"I think from very early on my manager and superviser picked up that I wasn't just there for a cash grab, so by showing a willingness and a desire to learn, they were able to identify my potential pretty quickly.
"Businesses are starting to realise that someone who is willing to learn and apply themselves with a bit of enthusiasm is someone they should really jump on and do anything to keep around."
Mr Cavanagh finished up at Pardoo station in January and after taking a well deserved holiday, he moved even further north, taking a job as an operations supervisor with Kimberley Agricultural Investment (KAI) in Kununurra.
Being on the station, he missed the social side and the isolation wasn't a lot of fun for a young bloke.
Because of that, moving to Kununurra had a dual appeal - it gave Mr Cavanagh the chance to be able to go to the pub and play footy with some mates, but also learn to grow cotton which was something that always intrigued him.
"It was another extreme place to go - the Ord Valley has so much potential and again it's something really different for me," he said.
"Even if you're not working on each farm, you can look over the fence and see what's happening.
"Cotton has always been something I've wanted to grow, although I'm not really sure why, so the opportunity to be involved in that was very hard to turn down."
Mr Cavanagh's new role is very operations heavy and involves a lot of responsibility - he's the person they can rely on to get something done without needing supervision.
He also serves as a link between the field and the office, so it's a boots on the ground role that is perfect for someone like this young gun who has the ability to think through things and make a decision in an educated way.
Mr Cavanagh said he was always believed in trying to put himself into positions where he can soak up as much information as possible.
"I've always enjoyed learning, I can't just sit back and not be thinking about something which I suppose comes from investing yourself into the family farm where you're trying to add value to it," he said.
"Because you're investing yourself, you might as well give 100 per cent to try and improve things for the business you're working for, no matter if that's family or someone else.
"My manager now is great - he's really smart and as soon as I started asking a couple of questions he identified that I wanted to learn and would pick up on things."
While the desire to learn was instilled in him from a young age, by his mum, Mr Cavanagh has also come to the realisation that it is unlikely there will be any massive breakthroughs in the near future that will revolutionise yields or profits.
Due to that, he believes it's going to come down to the one per centers.
"You can just go through the motions and do what you've always done and maybe it does a reasonable job, but if you want to be at the top of your game you have to chase that little bit extra," he said.
"The skills I learn up here might not be directly applicable to Wheatbelt farming, but there still might be a trick in there somewhere I pick up along the way and that could be the 1pc I need to go to the next level when I do eventually end up back home."
When it comes to getting back home, the draw is still there and Mr Cavanagh definitely plans to return to the farm one day.
In the meantime, he's happy in Kununurra for the foreseeable future and sees there being plenty of potential for him to grow as KAI expands.
On the other hand, the skill-set that he is getting, in terms of row cropping with cotton and corn, is a transferable skill to the Eastern States, so there is also the potential that Mr Cavanagh will try his hand there for a little while.
"Kununurra is one of the most beautiful places around and I'm still wrapping my head around it - every day I drive to work and look out the window, there's a big range there and the sun coming over it is pretty spectacular," he said.
"There are so many opportunities out there to do something that is different, it might be intimidating or daunting to go a long way from home, but I think those opportunities to get some space away from your hometown never hurt anyone."
