In a manner similar to last year's attention to the lack of agricultural workers, much is being made again this year of the need to have an available pool of skilled employees to attend to farm jobs.
After decades of subscribing to the notion of on-farm efficiency driven by economists, governments and agricultural consultants, landholders now find themselves staring at a labour shortage so severe it threatens to impact the coming winter crop harvest.
The push for far too long has been 'get big or get out', and in believing they could reduce on-farm labour and rely on contractors or seasonal employees, landholders have embraced technology to replace those staff.
And while other landholders might band in a group of three or four to provide fulltime work for one employee, it is obviously not the same as employing one person per farm.
We could talk about the long-term effect of reduced populations in small towns brought about by the reduction in farm staff, and we could focus on the mental health issues engendered by the pressure of operating to an 'economic ideal': but it's just as important to note that farmers are not the only ones crying out for staff.
Primary industries depend on transport operators and food processing firms to deliver food to the eater and if they can't employ sufficient qualified staff, then all of the year's work will be for nothing.
With the agricultural industry focused on becoming a $100 billion export earner by 2030 - an ambition I applaud - all will come to nothing if dedicated and enthusiastic staff are not available to produce and deliver.
And while the lack of shearers certainly threatens the future viability of Australia's wool industry, it is perhaps time now to step back and consider the root cause of the reduced pool of agricultural workers.
That lack has been masked in the past to some extent by the availability of backpackers who were prepared to work short-term for a minimum wage: and therein, I believe is the nub of the issue.
The low wages paid for so long to farm employees and associated with long hours leading to a lower standard of living has driven generations away from the farm when they saw more exciting prospects in large regional towns or the coastal cities.
I believe agriculture is entering a 'decade of golden opportunity'. To capitalise on this, industry in general and agriculture in particular must stake a greater claim on enthusiastic people who want to make their career on the land.
Before I left school, my ambition was always to be a farmer; and after I graduated from agricultural college, I was fortunate to secure a jackaroo position with one of the leading pastoral companies then operating in the 1970s.
When I came to the Riverina, there could have been 100 jackaroos and although not all remained on the land, they all learnt the purpose of hard work which set up their future careers.
With the demise of the jackarooing system, generations of experience has been lost and it is to the credit of some employers they saw the merit in employing bright young people keen for a career on the land.
The future is in their hands.
- Stephen Burns is a journalist for The Land, based from Wagga Wagga.
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