Rural & Farming 

The Australian rural and farming industry is an important employer in most regional area, with about 85 per cent of jobs located outside state capital cities.

However, this category encapsulates more than careers involved with working on the land in primary industries. You could work in areas as diverse as animal care, landscape construction, winemaking or in a fishery.

If you enjoy physical work, being close to nature or animals, outdoor activity in varied weather conditions and have an interest in applied science then this industry could be for you.

DID YOU KNOW?

There are currently about 129, 900 individual farming businesses in Australia, and remarkably 99 per cent of them are family owned and operated.

There are 330,000 employed directly in agriculture, and the industry also supports the jobs of 1.6 million Australians.

The agriculture industry offers good opportunities for self-employment. It has the highest proportion of any industry at 46 per cent.

The top three agricultural commoditites produced nationally are:

• Cattle and calves - $7.8 billion
• Wheat - $4.3 billion
• Milk - $3.2 billion

The main occupations are: Livestock farmers, Farm Hands, and Crop Farmers followed by General Mobile Plant Operators, Bookkeepers and Shearers.

The most lucractive of these is Shearing with a median gross salary of around $1200 per week.

WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE

Many of the occupations in rural and farming are dominated by males but there are opportunities for females to bring their skills and outlook to farming businesses.

More than 2 million Australian women live outside metropolitan areas and increased participation of women is being encouraged by a number of government initiatives, training grants, mentoring and leadership programs.

GOING GREEN

Aussie farmers have led the nation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions – a massive 40% reduction over the past 15 years.

In 2001, farmers planted 20.6 million tree seedlings for resource management. On average each Australian farmer plants 150 tree seedlings a year, solely for conservation purposes.

SPOTLIGHT: What careers are there?

Animal care - ranges from veterinary nursing to animal welfare, pet care, dog handling and training, horse care and training, and rangling for film and TV production. It offers opportunities in rural and city areas and is a great way to satisfy a love of animals. The chance to travel and specialize with these skills is good.

Aquaculture farmers - direct, coordinate and perform farming operations to breed and raise fish and other aquatic stock such as oysters, crayfish or prawns. Work can be as varied as pearl farming or in fisheries. It may involve working with marine biologists and food supply companies since the pressures on estuaries and coastal waters through development have increased.

Livestock farmers - plan, direct, coordinate and perform farming operations to breed and raise livestock such as beef or dairy cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, poultry or other breeds. Opportunities to specialize in beef, dairy, poultry or sheep farming exist as does exporting to other countries who demand Australia's quality agricultural products.

Viticulturalists - plan, supervise and coordinate the growing of selected grape varieties for the production of wine. If you like the idea of balancing your time between the lab or grape processing facility with outdoor work in vineyards, this is an interesting field combining science with business, marketing, packaging and distribution when working with Oenologists (winemakers).

Wool Harvesting - involves the shearing of sheep and preparing wool for sale. The main job roles are wool handler, shed hand (or roustabout), shearer and woolclasser. If you'd like a challenging, physical and interesting lifestyle that can involve travel, this kind of work could be just for you. Wool harvesting includes the competitive field of shearing, handling and woolclassing.

WHERE DO PEOPLE IN THIS INDUSTRY WORK?

• Beef, sheep, grain and dairy cattle properties
• Animal care facilities
  
• Local councils
• Vineyards
• Sawmills
• Landscape companies and nurseries
• For themselves

 

SOURCES – National Farmers Federation (NFF) Key Facts, Career Advice Australia (CAA) Agri-Food.