Award is the icing on the cake
Coming from Perth, Poppy initially had no experience in farming but was a keen horse rider when she graduated from the WA College of Agriculture and moved out to Narrogin, in WA's wheat belt, where she started a traineeship at the AFGRI Equipment John Deere dealership.
"I thought it looked like a great training-based job so that's why I chose it, and although it was pretty daunting because I didn't have any exposure to farming, I got there in the end," Poppy said.
"At the start I had some funny comments from farmers because I was from the city, but Narrogin is really nice, it's a pretty tight little community. I enjoy delivering solutions to customers when they're most in need, at harvest or seeding, and getting them up and running."
Poppy said she was just as surprised to win 2025 Parts Technician of the Year as she was the last time she stood on the winner's podium, as Parts Apprentice of the Year in 2023.
"I don't know how I did it last time, and I don't know how I did it this time," she said.
"The people I was up against, they were very, very talented people.
"Honestly, it's incomparable. You just feel so great, and you definitely know, when you're putting it all in every single day, day in, day out, that you know that somewhere, it's going to be appreciated."