Pat Harden … heading off to a new job in machinery sales in Bundaberg

April 5, 2016

Same felt hat … different shirt.  With these words, a stalwart of Kingaroy’s peanut industry signed off from the Peanut Company of Australia at Easter after a 24-year stint servicing peanut growers from northern NSW to the Atherton Tableland.

Senior agronomist Pat Harden began work at PCA in October 1992 at the age of 24.

PCA – or  the Peanut Marketing Board as it was known then – was looking for a seed agronomist to work on its newly introduced peanut pure seed program.

Pat, who had a Bachelor of Applied Science from Gatton College, was working at Dekalb Seed Company in Toowoomba at the time.

He applied, and got the job in Kingaroy.

Pat – and his hat – quickly became a familiar sight for South and Central Burnett peanut growers in his role with the seed program, and working as an extension agronomist.

His boss was Peter Hatfield, another name familiar to local growers, who later went on to start his own company, “Arachis Australia”.

“It was called the ‘Industry Development Department’ and there were five agronomists!” Pat recalled.

In 1998, Pat broke “Rule No 1 in Hatfield’s Handbook”, ie “Thou shalt not go out with a peanut farmer’s daughter” when he married Kathy.

After a short stint in the Northern Territory, Pat returned to Kingaroy, this time working as an agronomist for southern Queensland and the Northern Territory, spending about eight weeks a year in Katherine.

His southern role took him out to growers from Bourke, in NSW, to Emerald in Central Queensland.

In 2003, Pat earned the title of “Farming Services Manager” and was now working with more and more growers in the Bundaberg region.

Five years later, Pat shifted to Bundaberg full-time to service growers in that area, Mackay and, later, North Queensland.

“In 2010-11, I would fly to North Queensland one week a month to work with growers on the Atherton Tableland,” Pat said.

In 2012, he took on responsibility for seed production as well as peanut agronomy and was appointed Senior Agronomist.

There would not be a peanut grower from NSW to Tolga who wouldn’t know Pat Harden, and he hopes this will work well for him in his new job.

He will start at Vanderfield John Deere in Bundaberg, working in ag sales.

The move is “basically to stop travelling”.

Pat and Kathy’s daughter has turned five and has just started school in Bundaberg, and Pat wants to spend more time at home.

“I am looking forward to continuing to work with growers,” he said. “Same felt hat, different shirt.”

About the time Pat started at PCA (then PMB) … Members of the Industry Development Department, from left, Peter Hatfield, Pat Harden, secretary Cindy Rogers, Mark Reinbott and Peter Foxwell, who started work the same day as Pat (Photo: PCA)

 

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