Not knowing what is ahead of you and whether you will get a job is a cause of anxiety for many students.

One sector that is crying out for graduates Australia-wide however, is the agricultural industry.

But most young people out there did not grow up on a farm and the thought of entering the industry can be a daunting one. 

Today, young people from cities across Tasmania are beginning to break into the industry, and many are finding that the jobs they seek are out there. 

Elle Davis graduated from the University of Tasmania with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science with Honours in 2015 and already, she has a job at a prominent Tasmanian agricultural organisation. 

Today, she is a policy officer at the Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association in Launceston and loves the work. 

But if you had asked Ms Davis a few years ago what career she would choose, she would never have brought up agricultural science.

“My family are all medical professionals and to be honest, that’s where I always thought I would be headed as well,” she said.

“When I graduated I was really happy with where I was at and it was really nice knowing that I wasn’t going to struggle to find a job.”

Once she completed her studies at university, Ms Davis decided to take some time off, but when she was ready to look for work, it was not hard to find.

“There were so many options – the range and the number of jobs was really great,” she said.

“In my job now I’m helping farmers to do what they do best, so they can come to me with their problems and I’ll look through legislation and see how we can help them as an advocacy body.” 

Within the industry, Ms Davis said one of the things she liked most was the sense of community in the sector.

“People in agriculture are so friendly - whether it is the farmer themselves or up into the government sector, everyone is so willing to help and teach what they know,” she said. 

Like many other people in the agricultural sector, Ms Davis said she had heard misconceptions over what a job in the industry entailed.

“It was the best decision I ever made to get into agriculture – the job opportunities are fantastic, the people are so friendly and it’s not just for people with a farming background,” she said. 

Education has a big role to play in the sector as the need grows for more young people to have business acumen and skills to take on the management of the family farm.

One of the challenges faced by family farms is succession planning – deciding what will happen to the farm when the farmers retire.

Succession planning and the expectation of young people in farming families can lead to children undertaking further education to meet the expectations of their parents, or it can lead to children walking away from the farm.

While there may be abundant employment and educational opportunities for young people, sometimes the children do not want the farm.

Rural Business Tasmania offers independent succession planning advice for farmers and their families to help them navigate the complex emotional issue.

RBT financial counsellor Roly Chugg said the average age of his succession planning clients was about 70 years old, which had increased over the years.

“The average age of farmers is increasing but it’s so important they think of succession planning as soon as possible,” he said.

Mr Chugg said the best time to start thinking about succession planning is before the children turn 18 to help provide a seamless transition when the time comes.

“Sometimes the kids want to do other things, we try and act as an independent person and present options they might not have thought of before.”

RBT will chair family meetings and create an official advisory service for families, to ensure every member gets to have their say to an independent person.

“The thing with big farms is that there’s an expectation on kids and siblings, but sometimes one of the kids doesn’t want to be a farmer, but then, later down the track, it’s like boom, they hit their 30s and realise they do want the farm after all,” Mr Chugg said.

Succession planning is dependent on the needs of the farmer and their family.

There are several different solutions that can be reached but Mr Chugg said it could often be difficult to come to a solution, because of the emotions involved.

“You can separate the management from the real estate,” he said.

Mr Chugg said succession planning remained a very popular part of the services offered by RBT because the alternative was going to a lawyer to divide the asset in equal parts.

Succession planning services, such as the ones offered by RBT, helps to provide solutions that suit every members of the family.

“There was one example, one of the children wanted to farm and one didn’t but they still wanted to have their say, so we separated the titles 50-50 [per cent] and the brother that wanted to farm leased the land off the other brother,” Mr Chugg said.

“That way each child got what they wanted.”

Look out for the final edition of Digging Deep on November 29.