A YOUNG farmer from Tavistock has recently returned from a trip of a lifetime this summer.

Nicola Blowey, a third year BSc agriculture student at Harper Adams University, came back from a trip to Canada, where she went after being awarded a prestigious place on a National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs’ Discovery exchange.

She stayed with a member of 4H — a similar organisation in Canada to the Young Farmers’ Club (YFC) — on her family’s 3,000 acre arable farm in Manitoba.

Nicola also extended her travel to around nine weeks to include British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario and visited farms and agricultural businesses across the four provinces.

She said: ‘The differences were really surprising. When you learn about the extreme differences between seasons (in Manitoba it quite regularly swings from -40°C to +40°C, you really appreciate how short the growing season is. Also why spring cropping is preferred and insulating snow cover for winter crops is so crucial.’

Nicola’s exchange partner organised for her to see the entire food chain for wheat with harvest on her farm, a tour of a large flour mill as well as another small mill and bakery.

During her time in Quebec and Ontario, Nicola was able to visit Boviteq and EastGen.

She told the Times:?‘I gained a much better understanding of genetic technologies being adopted in the dairy industry and how they are evolving. I learnt so much about IVF and embryo transfer from my morning at Boviteq and it’s amazing to think that embryos are shipped from the lab I visited, one of only two owned by the company, to around 80 countries.’

Another highlight was her three days with the immunology team at the University of Guelph, who developed High Immune Response test, used by Semex to identify immunity for bulls.

She added: ‘It will be fantastic to follow the progress of their current project, trying to link this trait to geonomics by testing 5,000 cows across Canada.’

Nicola was able to enjoy some new experiences such as water skiing, her first country concert and driving on the wrong side of the road.

‘I made some amazing friends and was able to get in touch with some people that had emigrated several years ago. Everyone was so kind and accommodating, it was always so surprising how ready people were to invite me to stay and to show me their country. We‘ll definitely keep in touch and I‘m sure I’ll see them again before too long.’

Nicola would like to thank her sponsors Kite Consulting, YFA, Hodgsons accountancy firm Cornwall as well as the YFC Discovery team who gave the basis for the trip.