Cream of the crop: Narrogin’s Poppy Blohm awarded John Deere Parts Apprentice of the Year at Queensland gala

Narrogin AGFRI dealership’s second-year apprentice Poppy Blohm has been awarded the title of John Deere Parts Apprentice of the Year at third annual John Deere Technician of the Year Awards gala dinner in Brisbane on August 24. “I’m still on cloud nine as it really took me by surprise when I won,” Ms Blohm said as she prepared to fly home from Queensland the following morning. “I am so proud to represent not only Narrogin but also WA as a whole.” Ms Blohm competed against apprentices from across Australia and New Zealand as she performed hands-on tasks and troubleshot tech issues. “The testing was very challenging,” she said. “I actually felt a bit deflated afterwards and definitely did not anticipate that I would win. “They put so much time and effort into engineering the exams to make sure they were challenging but also doable.” John Deere Australia and New Zealand Managing Director Luke Chandler congratulated Poppy and the other award winning technicians. “Lachlan, Sarah, Darcy and Poppy have demonstrated exemplary performance among a high calibre field of finalists and should be incredibly proud of their efforts in taking home their respective Awards tonight,” he said. “There can only be one winner in each category however after meeting many technicians in Brisbane over the past few days it’s clear we have a terrific pipeline of talent servicing John Deere equipment and supporting our customers across the country.” Ms Blohm, who moved to Narrogin from Perth to pursue a career in the farm sector, said that travelling to Queensland to attend the awards had been an amazing experience. “From the day we stepped foot onto the John Deere Crestmead branch they made us all feel so special and honoured,” she said. “They were an awesome bunch of people who were all so sincere and put so much towards making the regional finalists experience the best one possible.” Ms Blohm’s love of the land and respect for the people who work it shine alongside her outstanding skill. “My job is very insightful, and I love to see how growers work with their machinery,” Ms Blohm said. “It is so rewarding working with people who have the same interests and making strong relationships with both colleagues and our farmer customers.”