The Australian agricultural sector plays a crucial role in our country’s growth, contributing nearly $60 billion to the economy and directly employing around 228,000 on-farm domestic workers. In addition, over 1.5 million Australians are employed in industries that service and support the agricultural sector, including manufacturers, research scientists, technology developers, agronomists, biosecurity officers and engineers. 

But it doesn’t stop there. Australian agriculture is on the brink of vast change, striving to meet the National Farmers’ Federation’s (NFF) vision of becoming a $100 billion industry by 2030. To achieve this goal and remain globally competitive, the industry needs to grow significantly over the next 11 years. Whether it can do this will depend on, among other things, its ability to unlock the value of new technologies across the entire supply chain and attract those employees who are competent in leveraging them. 

For those employers who are willing and able to embrace these technologies and digital advancements, they stand to see increased farming yields and profits, access to a wider international market, the ability to better withstand climate events and greater food and nutritional security. 

Here are some ways the workforce is expected to change, and what employers should consider as the sector is propelled into the digital age. 

A changing workforce 

While there is the view that greater technology uptake and automation will lead to job loss, it is perhaps fairer to say that that it will instead lead to job change. It is predicted that the farming and agricultural job market will look very different in five to 10 years, and while the rate at which this will occur is disputed, there is general agreement that significant job change is inevitable: new skills will be needed for the work generated by new technologies. 

Furthermore, the skill level across most existing jobs will likely rise, and digital skills will become increasingly important. This will include everything from programming and data capture skills to biotechnology, engineering and genomics. 

Fostering young Australian-based talent 

For decades, a seasonal and international workforce has been a primary source of  labour for many Australian agricultural businesses. This is in part due to highly intense seasonal requirements as well as difficulties in finding available domestic employees. However, the arrival of the pandemic and the closure of international boarders has created a significant regional labour shortage, with employers only having the option to source employees from within Australia. 

Further to this, Australia’s farming sector is considered an “ageing population”, with the average age of Australian farmers 57 years. By comparison, the average age of an Australian worker is 40 years. According to CSIRO’s report The Future of Australia’s Agricultural Workforce, this is concerning, particularly in terms of their ability to innovate and adopt new technologies to improve productivity. 

It is important then for employers to harness young home-grown talent to improve the sustainability of their regional agricultural workforce. In many ways, the adoption of high-tech and digital advancements has the potential to do just this. 

Innovative farming techniques and new agricultural technologies, including vertical farming, lab-grown produce, farm management software, land-surveying drones and “weedzapping robots” are transforming the perception of traditional farming into an exciting industry with a wide range of career opportunities. 

Moving forward, it could be beneficial for employers to consider hiring technical, scientific, agribusiness and entrepreneurship graduates. This has the potential to bring young Australians to regional towns or rural areas to pursue a career in agriculture. 

Training and upskilling initiatives 

In a project led by KPMG titled the Agriculture Workforce Digital Capability Framework, it was found that 41% of roles in Australian agriculture will be impacted by technology in the next 10 years; 30% through automation (e.g. robotics) and 11% through augmentation (e.g. Artificial Intelligence and wearable devices). This makes it imperative for the oncoming workforce to possess the skills required to facilitate these advancements within agricultural workplaces. 

A report titled ICT Use in Australian Agriculture revealed approximately one-third of farmers are struggling with the uptake of ICT tools due to insufficient skills within their workforce. This affected the operators of smaller farms more than larger agricultural organisations, with 40% claiming it is a challenge they’re facing. 

What is concerning however, is that KPMG found only 5% of the training packages from the major industry bodies focused on teaching digital capabilities. Put simply, we are training for yesterday’s skills, and not those skills required for the jobs of the future. 

Furthermore, it is not only technical skills that should be hired and trained for. The agricultural workforce of the future will likely need to possess generalist skills from a wide range of disciplines, including human resources, information technology, data science, management, marketing and trade. Changing demands across the agricultural workforce could potentially attract a new generation of graduates with a diverse set of technical skills, as well as soft skills such as the ability to collaborate and solve problems. 

In this way, it can be beneficial to partner with an organisation that understands the specific requirements of the industry and your business to create a tailored training and upskilling program. Acclaimed Workforce works with employers across the agricultural, horticultural and manufacturing sectors to deliver customised training programs that can help to future-proof your workforce. Contact us today to find out more.