Local agronomist Peter Watt has celebrated a milestone, marking 20 years with Elders Cowra.
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The team at Elders Cowra marked the occasion with a morning tea for Mr Watt at the Cowra office last Friday.
Mr Watt said he was proud to reach two decades with the company.
"Elders have been a great company to work for and have helped me educate children and have a lifestyle and given me the opportunity to work in the farming community here," he said.
"I'm very grateful... to have a job and to be working for the organisation."
But it's an achievement that almost didn't happen.
After studying at Hurlstone Agricultural High School and the Hawkesbury Ag College, Mr Watt was heading down another career path.
"I actually trained to be an agricultural high school teacher," he said.
"But really I taught for four days and thought I wanted to teach adults, not children."
Mr Watt then turned to agronomy and has stayed in the industry for more than 40 years.
"I was lucky to start with the Department of Agriculture 40 years ago and that was about eight or nine years and that was a really good foundation for agricultural knowledge and learning," he said.
Despite changes in staff and technology in the last two decades, Mr Watt said the fundamental aspects of agronomy remain the same.
"It's actually about the broader social skills required," he said.
"It's not just about being an agronomist, it's about being, in some cases a counselor and a good friend."
Mr Watt said mentoring young staff has been one of the highlights of his career.
"Hopefully I've helped a lot of people along the way," he said.
"I just feel grateful to have a good team around me, the support of my wife and family has been paramount because this really is an open all hours job.
"This time a year it's 24/7, the phone never stops, the texts keep coming, so you need a fairly accommodating family structure at home.
"A job is made easy when you've got a good team and good friends around you and I've been blessed with that."