While some industries struggle to find enough jobs to stem the steady flow of graduates swelling the sector, others can’t find enough people to fill the growing number of positions. 

Agriculture is one of the oldest industries of modern life and is one that will always be needed: the world’s desire for food and food security is only growing, it is not getting any smaller.

Despite this, for every agriculture graduate that comes through tertiary education, there are four jobs waiting for them.

In Tasmania, agriculture is one of the state’s largest industries, it is a pillar of the economy that is continually growing, with the Tasmanian “clean and green” brand taking off around the world.

In addition, domestic demand for locally grown “clean” products with a low carbon footprint and seasonal availability is also growing.

Graduates in the industry have the opportunity to work in many different areas, from production to research, resource management, food and policy.

Potential careers can include farm management, microbiology, food safety or animal physiology. 

Nationally, our agricultural education programs rate among the best in the world.

Queensland, Western Australia and Melbourne universities each rated within the top 25 of the most recent Academic Rankings of World Universities results in the life and agricultural science sector.

Deputy Premier Jeremy Rockliff holds the portfolios of Education and Primary Industries and recently released the Agricultural Education Framework.

The framework is aimed at encouraging schools from kinder to grade 12 to embrace and add agricultural programs and improve pathways into agricultural education.

Mr Rockliff said if the state government was going to achieve its vision for agriculture in Tasmania, namely to improve the farmgate value of the industry tenfold by 2050, then it would have to invest in skills and get more people engaged and employed in the industry.

“I really wanted to ensure a smoother pathway for people entering the horticulture and agriculture industries,” he said.

Mr Rockliff said the pathways for school children and young people were not clear and the agricultural education framework would help to address that.

It will develop a range of agricultural-based programs to encourage schools that don’t have a strong agricultural program.

After the launch of the framework on October 18, five schools have already signed up to pilot programs from 2017 and 2018.

The framework builds on work in the area that the government has already done, Mr Rockliff said, but acknowledged more work needed to be done in the area.

The state government also established Hagley Farm School as the Centre for Agricultural Education in 2015 and the Tasmanian Agricultural Education Network.

It also invested in the Agricultural Skills Plan in partnership with the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association and the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture. 

In addition to this, in 2015, Andrew Harris was appointed as the lead teacher for agricultural education in Tasmania. 

Earlier this year, Mr Harris and Hagley Farm Primary School principal Mick Davy embarked on a journey thanks to the Hardie Fellowship and set off on an eight-week tour of the United States.

The pair had the opportunity to visit schools, colleges and universities to learn about the implementation of agricultural education. 

Through these studies, they were able to write a report that would go on to influence much of the new framework. 

“We established the Tasmanian Agricultural Education Network and that’s designed for all educators to share resources and ideas and we bring educators together as often as we can for professional learning,” Mr Harris said. 

That network is now in the process of transitioning into an association and will be boosted when the 2018 National Conference for Agricultural Educators is held in Tasmania.

Through collaboration with Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia, Mr Harris is also hoping to put a greater emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics and the impact this can have on the sector.  

Two new courses will also be added to the curriculum for year 11 and 12 students – agricultural enterprise and agricultural systems. 

“The new pre-tertiary courses will provide a pathway to university study, if that’s where students choose to go,” Mr Harris said.

“This is largely about those schools in rural and regional areas that are beautifully placed to provide agricultural education.” 

Mr Harris said as a state, we needed to build a pathway for students starting in kindergarten and continuing right through to year 12. 

“We need to build really strong connections with industry and communities so that we understand what the options are,” he said. 

“We need to increase the number of kids who are having access to high quality agricultural education, and this starts in the early years and goes right through.” 

Look out for the next edition of Digging Deep on November 8.