Students need to look beyond the farmgate for job opportunities in the world of agriculture, an agricultural education forum hosted by a leading central Queensland university has heard.
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CQUniversity hosted a packed crowd of mostly students at Beef Australia 2018 on Tuesday, who heard about the opportunities offered through its Bachelor of Agriculture, along with hearing from some agricultural professionals about their personal career pathways in agriculture.
The course aims to help answer the massive shortage of skilled professionals in the agriculture industry.
Janine Milne, an agriculture teacher with Dalby State High School, outlined her pathway into a career in agriculture which started with a Bachelor of Applied Science.
“I love agriculture, and I love showing a passion for where our food and fibre comes from,” Ms Milne said.
“Agriculture is the most existing industry to be involved because we have challenges to feed our hungry planet.
“There are jobs that are not all tractors and gumboots, they are not riding around in dusty paddocks.
“You can be in the middle of Brisbane working for an international agriculture company and be just as fulfilled as working in a regional town or a remote.”
Ms Milne said there were a number of attributes needed to forge a career in agriculture including flexibility, communication and perseverance and said professional development was one of the most critical factors that had helped her.
“I have always looked to learn something,” she told the gathering. “There is always something to learn.”
Michael Thomson, who works in agriculture communications with CQUniversity, said he had “zero interest” in agriculture as a school leaver, despite growing up on a fruit and flower orchard at Toowoomba.
“My idea of agriculture was built on weekends picking fruit, packing flowers and spreading chook manure,” Mr Thomson said.
“That was my perception of a career in agriculture.
“I thought it was boring. Here I am 20 something years later having spent my career in agriculture wondering how it happened.”
Mr Thomson said early on in his career he discovered a “world of agriculture” that he didn’t know existed, which led him on a career path in the media, working for leading agricultural mastheads and later in public relations.
“There was so much more to agriculture than my limited preconceptions as a 16-year-old,” Mr Thomson said.
”Agriculture is more than just going back to the farm. It can take you all over the world and to all sorts of places.”
