Farmer

Henry Budd

With good winter rain falling across the family property, farmer Andrew Brigden is gearing up for a busy summer. Brigden, 23, works part-time on his family’s 607ha cattle and cropping farm between Gunnedah and Tamworth in northern NSW.

“It has been dry, but it seems to have changed over winter and we have had fairly good rain,” Brigden says. “Naturally you’d always want a bit more, but it is not looking too bad at the moment.”

During the summer months, Brigden will be busy irrigating crops of wheat, soy bean and lucerne, as well as running cattle.

“It’s a bit quieter during the winter months,” he says. “Usually you’re up fairly early. Because it is winter we are catching up on the maintenance, fixing fences and the like.”

Of all the jobs on the farm, it’s seeing the herd improve that Brigden enjoys most.

“You breed the herd up to how you like it, looking at things such as temperament and ability to put on weight and things like that,” he says.

“You breed the genes into the herd to continually improve it every year.”

When he’s not working on the farm, Brigden teaches at two local primary schools.

“I chose to do teaching at university and to learn all about my farming through actually working on the farm,” he says. “It is also something to fall back on if times are hard on the farm.”

Brigden is a second-generation farmer whose parents learnt to farm from scratch.

“My parents didn’t inherit it, they moved from Sydney,” he says. “They wanted a bit more freedom and to be able to work for themselves.”

He says the farm is run like a typical family business with everyone pitching in.

How to work in agriculture

Qualification: TAFE offers several courses specialising in various areas of agriculture that can be done as part of a traineeship.

Course: Certificate III in Agriculture is designed for people in the rural industry with some expertise who want to develop advanced technical and husbandry skills. It provides the knowledge required to apply these skills in the workplace.

Students will learn how to organise and co-ordinate the procedures that employees in rural industries must carry out, as well as learning technical skills that a senior employee on a rural enterprise should possess. You will also be able to apply occupational health, safe working and quality assurance practices to industry standards.

This course also suits owners of rural operations who want to enhance their technical knowledge and skills, and for people with some expertise who want to enter the rural industry. Graduates of the course may be able to apply for advanced standing in Agriculture Certificate IV (including specialisations such as beef and dairy farming).

Assumed knowledge: NSW School Certificate (or equivalent) with relevant experience, or completion of Certificate II in Agriculture or equivalent, or relevant workplace of other experience.

Cost: $654 per annum

From the inside: Andrew Brigden says a farmer needs to be a jack of all trades.

“I could be doing anything from ploughing and sowing seeds to making hay,” he says.

“We also make feedlots for our cattle and there is a lot of farm maintenance.”