By Mackenzie Coopman | November 2024
Regardless of where our education journeys end, they ultimately lead to a career. Over the past five blogs I have described my own journey and the various opportunities that come with a tertiary education in the food and fibre industry. Now, at the end of this series, I decided to reach out to people at different stages of their careers in the primary industry to gain some insight into their experiences and gather any advice that they might have for the next generation.
Molly O’Dea’s career has been in agricultural education – She has managed a school farm, worked in sugarcane extension, and has taught students, teachers, and farmers about careers, sustainable agriculture, carbon farming, and more.
Emma Knowles is an early career professional with a keen interest in horticulture and international agricultural development. Currently, she is undertaking Costa’s graduate program and working to become an international horticulturalist.
Sue Pratt has been involved with farming livestock and cropping for her whole life. She taught agriculture at Balaklava High for 15 years before becoming Lead Agriculture Teacher for SA in 2022.
Roger Wickes began his career as a research officer in dairy husbandry as he completed an external thesis master’s degree in beef production. He then moved into policy support for the Director General. After that he became an Executive Director and developed the natural resources program and its supporting legislation for the government. After leaving this role, Roger set up a consultancy firm and has completed many policy reports for State and Commonwealth Governments, Universities, and the Murray Darling Basin Authority.
Bruce Hancock described his career as nothing short of fantastic. He made a start in Agriculture working for McBride’s. Over the following 40 years, Bruce worked for one organisation, the SA Department of Agriculture. He built his skills by accepting new and challenging roles which took him all over SA. Following this, Bruce worked nationally for organisations such as MLA and the Sheep CRC and completed three international development projects in the Middle East.
I first asked this group why they chose a career in agriculture and what made them stay. Molly O’Dea responded “I love our farm, I love food, I love knowing how things work, and I love education. Agriculture is the perfect industry for a career that incorporates it all. I’ve stayed because I love it!”. Bruce Hancock explored several industries but was eventually influenced by his agriculture and STEM teachers in secondary school. He said that “[…] The turning points were school trips to Adelaide to see the depth and diversity of opportunities in agriculture. The opportunities opened even further during my tertiary study at Roseworthy Campus where it became obvious that agriculturists would be in demand to feed the growing world population. This challenge and passion has stayed with me throughout my career.”
Next, I asked about career highlights. What were some particularly memorable and impactful moments through their careers? Roger Wickes got the opportunity to represent Australia at the United Nations in New York. “I presented to that forum on the Murray Darling Basin arrangements and represented Australia sitting behind the Australian flag. I felt very proud to be representing Australia in such an international policy forum.”. Emma Knowles, who graduated from a Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences degree in 2023, has already had some impressive experiences. “A particular highlight was my time interning with the Indonesian Department of Food Security and Agriculture in the Belitung regency (Dinas Ketahanan Pangan dan Pertanian Kabupaten Belitung). This was an awesome opportunity to understand differences in some of the key issues facing the South-East Asian region and be part of looking for solutions.”.
More in line with the previous blogs from the series, I asked about why they thought the primary industry was a good place for young people and what advice they would give somebody who wants to get involved. Most of the responses highlighted the diversity of career options and opportunities within the primary industries. Sue Pratt also spoke about the satisfaction and accomplishments which can be had. “Working in this sector can make a difference to global issues like food security and environmental outcomes as well as critical areas such as animal welfare. In this sector, problem solving and innovation have the potential to improve the lives of people and animals across the globe whether you are shearing sheep in a woolshed in regional SA or leading research programs at international institutions.”. In terms of advice, everyone agreed that it was best to get out there and get involved in any way you can!
Finally, I asked everybody what their favourite part of the food and fibre industry was. The responses showed how many great pathways there are in agriculture. Roger Wickes said, “I have always loved the Pastoral Industry […]”. Molly O’Dea wrote “My favourite part of the agricultural industry is its continued efforts to increase food security […]”. While everybody had their own interests, a trend through these responses was the emphasis on the sense of culture and community. Bruce Hancock summed this up well. When asked about his favourite part of agriculture he simply put “The people.”.
I’d like to thank PIEFA and AIA for the opportunity to share my experiences through this series. I hope that this has helped in promoting the amazing opportunities in tertiary education in the food and fibre industry.
Through several internship experiences, I have explored the discipline of international agricultural research for development. While this field is exciting and dynamic (not to mention the opportunities for international travel), to rise to higher positions, postgraduate qualifications are essential.
Because I don’t have firsthand experience in postgraduate studies, I set out to do some research in what an honours project might look like and asked some people currently doing postgraduate studies to see what they thought.
Kelly Will is currently completing her Honours in Animal Science at the University of Adelaide. Her project focusses on reducing methane emissions in beef cattle by introducing essential oils as feed supplements to alter the microbiome of the animal.
She was unsure of what to do after completing her undergraduate degree so decided to do further studies to enhance her knowledge and grow her network.
When asked about her favourite part of agriculture she told me that “There are so many things about agriculture that I love, but I think that what drew me to the industry is how connected it is, the opportunities to learn from others and how supported you feel. There are many different industries that my friends are a part of that don’t have all this investment into the students. The people in this industry really invest time and money into developing young people […]”
Aditya Baxi (Adi) just finished studying a Masters of Global Food and Agricultural Business. His master’s thesis project focused on evaluating market access for carbon neutral lamb and wool. Adi worked as a chef for many years prior to pursuing a master’s in primary industry. He found that a desire to understand the economics and policy considerations behind food lent naturally to further studies in some discipline within agriculture.
His favourite part of the food and fibre industry was the way the empathy and considerateness of the people in it. Although he was initially cautious of coming into agriculture without prior industry experience, he found that people valued the diverse perspective which he provided. “People value your diverse experience. I was a little scared coming into agriculture thinking (that) I don’t have […] experience but I think that I have the experience that a lot of people don’t, and that is something that this industry has made me more confident about. People have made me realise that the way I see things is something that is different and I should be confident about it.”
Finally, I spoke to Beth Loveys, the Associate Head of Learning and Teaching in the school of Agriculture Food and Wine at The University of Adelaide. Her own higher education journey started with a bachelors, honours and PhD but eventually led her to a teaching role. “I think further studies beyond your undergraduate degree are really valuable because they tell you a lot about yourself. They give you experiences that allow you to determine your journey. Going from school into an undergraduate degree is still very much […] recipe learning. […] Going and doing further studies […] just gives you an opportunity to explore things with more freedom.”
Through discussions with the people who I interact with at university I have discovered that, although postgraduate studies are often very specific in their topic, they are not specific to one job or even one field. The skills which you build along the way are much more important than the final product. For example, if I decide to do an honours project next year I will need to decide on a topic. To do this I first need to identify a problem which aligns with my interests and is big enough to take me a whole year to solve but not so complicated that I won’t be able to finish it. Then, I’ll need to break down the problem into smaller more manageable parts which I need to complete in my own timeframe. Throughout this process I’ll need to manage my time, workflow and outputs — all important skills in any job.
Find out more about the Ag Institute of Australia here: https://www.aginstitute.com.au/. Access state based Student Compendiums here.
