DA's April Browne talks about missed opportunities filling dairy's workforce void at 2022 Dairy Symposium

Following cancellations due to COVID-19, the long-awaited event kicked off on Tuesday at Forster.

About 150 farmers and industry participants attended to hear from several expert speakers.

April Browne, Dairy Australia Lead, Learning and Development Partners, presented on the difficulty in matching the right people with the sector, described as the "Achilles' heel of the industry.

"At the farmgate, the need for a sustainable pipeline of capable people to work in farm businesses has never been more present," she said.

"Workforce sustainability in agriculture has been unanswered for years, and COVID-19 exacerbated that situation.

"A coordinated focus on the business of people is required."

Read more: All the faces at the 2022 Dairy Research Foundation Symposium

A Dairy Australia survey conducted in 2020 identified that nearly 30 per cent of dairy farm businesses were in an expansion phase, and a further 12pc intended to expand in the near future.

However, 70pc of farm managers and owners found it difficult to recruit new staff.

"The problem of attracting, retaining and developing a capable workforce continues to be the key handbrake on industry growth in an otherwise, for the most part, an expanding industry," Mrs Browne said.

Mrs Brown said formal education and learning activities had not been readily available for the industry.

"There is an opportunity for the dairy industry to position itself in the employment market with clear and seamless career pathways underpinned by capability development," she said.

Mrs Browne highlighted previously underutilised opportunities in vocational education, universities and education partnerships with industry colleagues to complement the valuable work experience and the valuable generational knowledge gained from within the farm business.

Formal post-school education, she says, has a role in the capability development of the agricultural workforce.

"While agriculture has traditionally lagged behind other industries in the level of post-school education, the complexity and sophistication of modern dairy farm businesses call for renewed recognition of a high level of capability required of our workforce," she said.

"This provides the opportunity to reposition the career on-farm as offering a challenging, stimulating and dynamic workplace sought by the emerging 21st-century workforce.

"Never again should the words 'just a farmer' be the tagline of agriculture."

Deloitte's Global 2022 Gen Z and Millenial Survey engaged 14,800 Gen Z and 8400 Millenials across 46 countries.

The survey gauged their views on work and the world around them.

Learning and development opportunities ranked second, only to work/life balance as the top reasons influencing why they choose a certain career.

"If we want to attract and retain the next generation in dairy, we need to meet their needs and begin emphasising learning and development," Mrs Browne said.

Aurora Dairies' graduate dairy assistant Andy Gray is from the Adelaide Hills district.

He went through an agricultural high school before studying for a Bachelor of Agriculture at the University of New England.

"I liked the idea of the structured graduate program where you get exposure to different aspects of the business, which is really quite valuable," he said.

The graduate program is broken up into three placements; eight months on an irrigation farm, eight months on a dry-land farm and eight months in an office setting, which includes farm operations, commercial business operations and investment management.

"The diversity of the day is something I really enjoyed, and the projects are exciting," Andy said.

Moxey Farms supervisor and University of Sydney PhD Candidate Maddie Pearce is located at Goolagong.

She manages a team of 20, milking 8000 cows.

Growing up in a military family, Maddie had no previous experience in the dairy industry.

"I studied animal veterinary bio-science, where some incredible lecturers focused me towards the dairy industry, and the development opportunities and the scope that dairy had for growth," she said.

Moxey Farms has supported Maddie in her progression into a manager's role and as she pursues her PhD.

"They have enabled me to further my career and give back to their farm and the wider dairy industry," Maddie said.

"Day-to-day, I go around the farm, visit the cows and welcome the staff, then get back to my office and start examining data from our cows' collars, piecing together early disease intervention, working with the data on-farm as well as using that for my research."

Lilydale Dairy Farms manager Lachie Davis, south-west Victoria, works on his family's farm, milking between 800-900 cows.

He recently finished studying for his degree at Marcus Oldham College and said furthering his education had enabled him to learn the business side of farming.

"I started studying in 2019, and I absolutely loved it," he said.

"Attending the college and now the opportunities through Dairy Australia have taken my future to the next level.

"Now, back on the farm, I am making decisions with more confidence. I am bringing fresh thoughts to the table working alongside Dad.

"The higher level education is high value. To be at the forefront of the dairy industry, you need to be educated because we all run multi-million dollar businesses, and we need to get it right and minimise error where we can."

Willow Vale dairy farmer Georgia Sherborne also work on the family farm at Burrawang.

She is studying for an agribusiness degree at the University of Tasmania, recognising that she needed more skills to operate the farm.

"The farm is such a complex business, and you can't just jump into it thinking you are going to get by," she said.

"The course complements the operations I perform on-farm, pushing you to think, source information and make decisions."