AGRICULTURE professionals are not just farmers and orchardists and nor are all of the jobs in agriculture simply picking fruit although, that too is important and needs to be done. Opportunities in this field include areas as diverse as science, engineering, finance, marketing, exporting and everything in between.
The Goulburn Valley is blessed with a dynamic agricultural industry and as it grows, it opens numerous new jobs and occupations that offer choices for almost everyone.
One of the problems of the past is that kids on farms have tended to migrate to the cities to find employment while overlooking some of the more interesting jobs available in the country.
While many jobs require tertiary qualifications there are a whole range of careers working on a farm that can be achieved through gaining experience, sometimes from the bottom up.
Wineries are a good place to start. Wineries need skilled winemakers and viticulturalists to produce some of Australia’s excellent wines but they also need skilled workers to carry out mechanical harvesting or pruning.
Sheep farming has needs for shearers and wool classers but it also needs livestock managers, veterinarians, livestock nutritionists, farm consultants, working dog trainers, livestock agents and wool brokers to work with farmers.
Cattle and dairy farming have a similar list of occupations ranging from dairy hand through to milk processing, food hygiene, irrigation, and animal husbandry.
Opportunities in agriculture for young school leavers are boundless if they are looking for a career that is not confined to being indoors all day long but not necessarily being tied to one farm. More often than not, it just takes a little looking about at what is on offer.
