Meet Evan Jolly

Graduate

Being born and raised on an orchard, I became interested in agriculture from a very young age. 

I'd spent school holidays working in agriculture and by the time I was 18 I was working full time on a farm. During this experience I saw many hardships in farming, but it was never enough to discourage me from an agricultural career. So, when it came time to pick a university degree, I chose Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security at Western Sydney University. 

I had an understanding of farming and agriculture, but the degree encouraged me to learn about agricultural topics I'd never even thought about. By the end of my first year I had gone from being concerned with yield and quality of produce to also thinking about how we should be feeding the world, what practices are sustainable and friendly to the environment, and how to use non-traditional farming methods in large scale agriculture. 

My perception of farming had broadened and I'd gained a much wider understanding of the modern day agriculture industry. Wanting to explore this 'new agriculture' further, I undertook a range of extracurricular opportunities at uni. By the end of my degree I'd worked with my local area to improve their access to food, attended a professional conference at Parliament House to discuss topics of food security, run educational workshops at several events for school students, measured and made improvements to a commercial farm's eco-footprint, lead my own research looking into standardising the teaching methods and resources in agriculture classrooms in NSW and hosted events for a sustainable food young activist group – which I helped set up! 

These experiences showed me there was so much more to agriculture than farming and by the time I graduated at 22, I'd already been working in agricultural media full time for over three months. My job involves producing 'Leading Agriculture', an e-magazine covering all aspects of Australian agriculture. I also am responsible for the websites: Farming's Future, dedicated to positive messages in farming; Get Farming, Farm Business, Get Small Farms, Get Broadacre, Get Livestock, Get Wineries, Get Farming New Zealand and Get Sustainable. 

Through my degree, I hoped I would be able to ease the hardships that farmers face every day and through my current employment, whether it's getting them information they need, sharing a story or giving them a voice, I feel I'm able to achieve this career goal.