After more than three decades of work with the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and helping farmers across the region, Ashley White is moving on to bigger and better projects.
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Ashley, who has been with the Cowra Research Station since 1989 will retire after a stint as a District Livestock Adviser before heading up the Sheep Meat Research and Development (R&D) team since 2010.
He says his work has taken him to places such as Trangie and Nyngan.
“I was the District Livestock Adviser here until 2010, which was affectionately known as the Sheep-o,” he said.
Ashley said Sheep-o’s would give free advice to farmers and continued doing so even after changing roles with the DPI.
“I didn’t mind that at all even though I wasn’t theoretically in the job, people have continued to treat me as the Sheep-o,” he said.
He said working with farmers and the staff at the DPI will be the thing he misses most after leaving the Department.
“It’s just a new phase, I’m not that old and it’s something I’ve been planning for a while and the time is right now.”
Ashley says he plans to visit his son who is on a gap year in England before undertaking some major infrastructure projects on a grazing property he owns on the Belabula River.
“I’d really love to do is some overseas development work, work overseas in terms of community development, in the long term that’s what I’d like to do,” he said.
“The phone is not going to stop ringing after I leave the Department and so I’m happy to continue to provide what advice I can.”
Farewell drinks will be held for Ashley at the Imperial Hotel on Thursday, June 29, starting at 5pm.
