Positive messages needed to bolster ag recruitment

QUEENSLAND farmers are world leaders in producing high quality food and fibre.
But for all our skills in tilling the soil and tending livestock, farmers have a massive challenge as we look to ensure we have the right people to help run our farms.
Recruitment and human resources are not typically the strong suits of your average farmer, as it must be balanced with many other priorities. This is quite different to some businesses which either out source or employ specifically qualified people to recruit for them.
Similarly, farmers don’t typically have the budget for colourful job advertisements that fill half a newspaper page.
So how do we as farmers learn to compete for staff against jobs in the cities or the high salaries of the minerals sector?
At the QFF policy forum recently, Mungindi cotton grower Barb Grey pointed out there is value in changing the way we think about recruitment.
She said that marketing was critical to getting the right people on our farms, and with her husband Ralph she is instigating a marketing recruitment strategy.
Mungindi is a long drive from Brisbane and people who have not been there might initially need a bit of convincing about moving to the town.
But Barb believes the key is promoting the positive lifestyle and community atmosphere on offer in the bush, which Mungindi offers in spades.
There is a lot to be said about never having to drive through a traffic jam on the way to work, or having the perfect work and family balance or time to pursue other activities outside of a rewarding career, compared to many who live in the city and are challenged by the sheer logistics of home and work.
She said we should be marketing agriculture as not just a job but as a career, and therefore be selling and promoting a lifestyle, learning form other sectors in the economy who do this well. She also pointed out that one of the keys to keeping people is also helping them grow in their career and realise their full potential.
On the same topic, CEO of the Western Research Institute, Tom Murphy, said there would be a growing need for more workers in the bush in years ahead.
He cited figures from the Department of Education, Employment, and Workplace Relations that indicate employment in agriculture will grow 1.5 percent per year over the next five years, requiring 27,100 extra people.
Not only is there a demand for number of people, the demand for what they need to do is great, with the median earnings being lower and the hours longer in agriculture than they are for other industries.
With all that in mind, to meet this challenge it only makes sense that farmers will have to be creative and innovative in the way they recruit staff.
Mr Murphy told the forum that there are both positive and negative images to a career in agriculture, which farmers should know about.
The negative factors surround drought and flood, misconceptions about the treatment of animals, and environmental issues.
The positive factors are that we have a high-tech, modernised system of internationally competitive farm businesses. We are environmentally sustainable and lead the world with clean, green and quality produce and offer a huge diversity in terms of jobs, careers and lifestyles.
These are very strong positive messages, as are the messages that we must unite at industry, regional and sector wide levels to continue to promote ourselves when it comes to the agriculture sector in Queensland.