Careers

There is a wide range of career opportunities in the Tasmanian dairy industry and a number of ways in which to enter the industry.

Farming opportunities include:

Farm employmee
Contract Milker
Sharefarmer
Farm Manager
Farm Owner
Equity Partner

A common career path in dairy farming has been from farm apprentice, to lower order sharefarmer, to higher order sharefarmer and then farm ownership. However, in recent times a number of very successful sharefarmers have chosen to remain as sharefarmers rather than purchase farms, thereby establishing share-farming as a career in itself rather than as a step to farm ownership.

There are also a number of other opportunities in the wider dairy industry including the following:

Factory employment
Factory Field Officer
Veterinary Practice
Farm Management Consultant
Food Technologist
Herd Testing
Agronomic advice
Dairy Research

Farm Employment

There is a tremendous opportunity to gain farm employment on Tasmanian farms at all levels. A recent survey suggested that 30 per cent of farmers required additional labour.

With the Tasmanian dairy industry continuing to grow and family units getting smaller, farm owners are becoming increasingly dependent on hired labour. The average Tasmanian dairy farm is now large enough to support 3 employees, which is generally more than can be sourced from the farm family.

The award wage rates for Tasmania are listed in the table below as a guide only. These are minimum wages and employees are able to negotiate their own wage packages with employers. Employees can not be made worse off by negotiating than the minimum wages and conditions laid out in the relevant award.

Traineeships & Apprenticeships

Young people can undertake training as a trainee or apprentice to gain qualifications and experience in the industry and further their career prospects. An apprenticeship or traineeship is a flexible employment based training arrangement where the employee enters into a formal training contract with an employer and a Registered Training Organisation (RTO). The contract is registered with the State Training Authority. A traineeship can usually be completed in a 12-month period, and in some cases can be credited as the first year of an apprenticeship.

Recent changes to the national New Apprenticeship Scheme give greater flexibility and choice in determining the nature of the training agreement. Locally many training providers are willing to fit in with the seasonal demands of dairy farming in providing training to trainees and apprentices.

The minimum wage rates for trainees and apprentices are based on the weekly rate payable to a Level 4 farm hand above, at the following rates:

1st year 42%
2nd year 55%
3rd year 75%
4th year 88%

Farm Management

There is a growing demand for qualified and experienced managers to run some of the larger dairy farms in the state. Such positions can command a good salary with an employment package possibly including accommodation and a vehicle.

The experience required to fulfill the requirements of a farm manager can be very broad and diverse. In terms of formal qualifications it would be a general expectation that applicants will have completed an apprenticeship in a related field and will have at least 3 years additional experience. A diploma in farm management would be considered desirable but not essential.

Farm management requires a high degree of practical application and as a result there are positions available to individuals with limited formal qualifications but extensive practical and managerial experience.

Contract Milking & Sharefarming

Most share dairy farmers will have completed a dairy apprenticeship to gain the necessary skills required to manage a farm on a daily basis. During their time as an apprentice they might start to move towards a share agreement by buying dairy cows or by taking on additional responsibility within the business. Sharefarming agreements tend to fall into one of four basic categories, which are set out in the table below.

There should be sufficient flexibility within the broad framework of each agreement to provide for individual joint agreement on which items of income and expenditure are to be shared.

Farm Ownership

Farm ownership is still a realistic aim for highly motivated people with limited assets. It is still possible to start as a farm apprentice and eventually achieve farm ownership. Tasmania is possibly one of the few places in Australia that this is possible. In fact, despite the recent increase in land values farm affordability (after accounting for interest rates and milk prices) is similar to what it was 15 years ago.

Generally those who want to persue farm ownership need to start acquiring assets as early as possible. Sharefarming is a popular method because it allows the sharefarmer to build an asset base through stock while farming. Over time this asset is grown to the point where a proportion is usually sold, or the equity in the herd is used to buy land. There are other options, however. Equity partnerships are one option that is likely to become more common over time.

Equity Partnerships

An equity partnership is a joint venture between individuals that have come together to pool their capital and possibly skills to obtain revenue and growth from their investment. Generally one of the partners is employed as a farm manager. The farm manager can also be a sharefarmer.

In general the following takes place:

A company is set up with standard farming company constitution
All assets (land, stock, plant) owned by the company
Shareholding based on the amount of share capital that individuals contribute to the set up
Purchase of assets funded by shareholders capital and bank debt borrowed by the company
Shareholders capital contribution may come from that individuals own cash or from borrowing against their own assets
A Shareholder Agreement is signed by and binding on all shareholders. This sets out how the joint venture will operate

Equity partnerships can provide opportunities to individuals to fast track their career opportunities beyond that which could be achieved on their own, or at least increase the speed with which this might happen.