Agriculture Studies Booming

THE Scone TAFE has had an 80 percent jump in people under 25 enrolling to study agriculture.

The carpark is often filled with utes sporting P plates, reflective of the high numbers of young people driving the resurgence in the study of agriculture.

According to Jennifer Cole, who teaches agriculture at the local TAFE, historically school leavers have focused on going into trades in the mining sector, but there has been a significant shift this year.

“We are seeing plenty of school leavers wanting a future in agriculture,” said Ms Cole.

“They are following what they are most interested in and passionate about and the industrial trades are less popular since the mining down turn,” she said.

“We are also seeing people who already work in agriculture wanting formal qualifications, such as learning about succession planning for their family farm,” she said.

“We try and give them a taste of everything and then let them find what most interests them, for example we have subjects in using chemicals on the farm, chainsaws, quad bikes, fencing, livestock, machinery, crops and pastures, horticulture and administration.

“There are even a few international students studying vet nursing and agriculture at certificate IV or diploma level.

“The study options we have locally are very attractive to people working out here,” Jennifer Cole said.

The courses are also designed to be highly flexible and are often able to be assessed in the student’s workplace.

“There are short day courses people can do and we develop those based on demand, some employers need a few staff trained in a certain area, so we are pleased to develop training for what employers need,” said Ms Cole.

“We will often go out to where the student is working and assess their skills.

“That is really useful for people who have been in agriculture for a long time and want that formal recognition,” she said.

The TAFE has also seen high demand for animal studies with school leavers.

Young people are often studying animal studies at TAFE during high school and afterschool are continuing with studies in the field b enrolling in courses such as vet nursing.

Sandra Vodic is the head teacher in animal care and teaches from Gosford to Scone.

“I’m in the long paddock,” Ms Vodic laughs.

“More students are taking an educational pathway from animal studies into vet nursing,” she said.

“The vet nursing courses are contextualised for local industry needs, so in Scone there are many students which come from local studs for example,” said Sandra Vodic.

Local employers are also supporting the trend towards agriculture with many choosing to employ young local people.