AS anticipation builds for this year’s fourth annual John Deere technician of the year awards, Caleb Dover, the program’s inaugural parts apprentice of the year has shared how winning the title facilitated his career growth and sparked a 3500km cross-country journey.

In July 2023, exactly one year after completing his apprenticeship, Caleb relocated from Tasmania to WA’s wheatbelt to take up the role of parts manager at the AFGRI Equipment dealership in Wongan Hills, north-east of Perth.

On top of adjusting to the climate, he also had to switch focus to different machinery parts given the broadacre cropping focus of the region.

“A lot of farmers here have big tractors and harvesters used in wheat and canola paddocks, which isn’t what I was used to in Tassie,” Mr Dover said.

“It’s definitely been a learning journey with the broadacre equipment, as well as seeing how cropping farmers operate and the demands it places on the machinery.”

He enhanced his continual learning by completing training through John Deere University and said the opportunities within the company were endless.

He is now managing the parts department and a team of four, giving him more freedom to implement new ideas and make changes to help customers.

“I’ve always focused on finding new solutions for customers and this role allows me to do that,” he said.