Growing up on her family's mixed farming operation just outside of Murringo NSW, Bridget Parkman has been heavily involved in agriculture from a young age. She's passionate about animal health and welfare, agribusiness, information extension and production efficiency – a passion that led her to complete a Bachelor of Animal Science in 2021.
Bridget joined the SheepMetrix Team in 2022 as a Sheep and Wool Consultant. In this role she works alongside industry-leading seedstock and commercial sheep producers, assisting with:
- data collection
- genetic analysis
- breeding program design
- the delivery of industry extension projects and events.
The part of her role that she loves the most is talking with progressive producers, gaining an insight into their business and what genetic direction they're working towards — additionally, the opportunity to be involved with innovative projects, and constantly learning new things.
Providing more for clients
After a friend recommended the program, Bridget recently attended MLA's Livestock Advisor Essentials (LAE) workshop to broaden the type of advice she could provide to clients.
"The chance to learn not only from industry professionals but also the other workshop participants was a great opportunity to hear about how they're helping the industry to solve problems," Bridget said.
About the Livestock Advisor Essentials courseDelivered through a series of face-to-face workshops over 12 months, the Livestock Advisor Essentials course brings together livestock advisors from a range of backgrounds to:
Throughout the course, participants learn about business, feedbase fundamentals, genetics and reproduction, the value chain, and people and extension skills. The deliverers of the course are consultants and advisors who are leading experts in their respective fields. |
Developing relationships with clientsThe final 'influence, impact and extension' workshops with Jill Rigney were something that Bridget found invaluable. "Our role as advisors is to provide clients with accurate information which can help them to problem solve. You need to develop a good relationship with your client to do this effectively," she said. "Jill opened my eyes to how important that relationship is, but also how to communicate with clients effectively and work well with others." Bridget also found the presentation from Jillian Kelly on feedbase decision-making very motivating. "Her experience as a large animal vet feeds into the decisions she makes and how she assists clients. "From listening to Jillian, it became clear to me that the diversity of Australia's agricultural systems is massive, and it's nice to learn how to adapt your advice to suit the area or production system the client is in, which can sometimes be overlooked." |
Bridget's top takeaways
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Bridget has already begun implementing the practices around effective communication and relationship building that Jill Rigney presented.
"I've been slowly implementing what we learnt from Jill into my work and home life.
"The presentation tactics are something I have particularly found useful, even if it's just taking a breath in those situations – it helps to control nervousness and clarity.
"I'm also becoming more comfortable using feedbase and cost of production calculations. Ensuring that I'm confident using these calculations allows me to broaden my capacity to assist clients with non-sheep related questions."
