Students discover pathways

This year the students were from Foster Secondary College, Berry Street School in Morwell, Neerim District Secondary College in Neerim South, Bass Coast College’s FLOW campus in Wonthaggi, and Leongatha Secondary College.

Dairy industry participants included veterinarians Jamie McNeil and Andrew Perry, dairy farmers Terri Geary, Gordon Lockett, Tania and Clint Staley, Ben Vagg, Kay-Lee Bransgrove, and Sarah Kelly, and academic Dr Nicole McDonald.

The students also toured a Fonterra factory, Burra factory, Hico facility at Korumburra and Ellinbank SmartFarm.

Some of the students also attended this year’s GippsDairy Muster.

GippsDairy’s Belinda Griffin said the program, run from March to June, helped secondary students to discover career pathways in agriculture and develop skills for a career in dairy.

This year’s students were from Years 10 and 11.

The accredited courses included a two-day raising healthy calves course and the two-day Dairy Australia Cups On Cups Off course.

Lynn Grabham from Leongatha Secondary College attended the Dairy Learn Pathways Program with five students from LSC.

Lynn was involved in last year’s program and is on the steering committee for the program.

She is also a dairy farmer at Outtrim, milking 200 cows in a 16-double-up herringbone.

“This program highlights the different opportunities in the dairy industry for young people,” Lynn said.

“It’s about more than milking cows. They learn about the career opportunities that are on the farm and extend beyond the farm.”

Lynn said one of the advantages of the program was the direct interaction the students had with farmers and other industry people, giving them opportunities to ask questions and initiate conversations.

“This year, speaking with farmers, the students realised you have to be a business person to run a farm, you need to know your maths, and the role requires a lot of trade skills,” Lynn said.

“They got a real insight into the roles involved in dairy farming.”

She said a couple of her students had decided they would pursue a mechanical apprenticeship, as their pathway into the dairy industry.

Other students have taken on school-based apprenticeships and part-time work. After completing the Cups On Cups Off course, one student gained part-time work as a milker on a dairy farm.

Lynn said providing students with access to accredited courses through the program gave them an advantage when it came to finding relief milking work.

“As soon as one of the students told the farmer he had his Cups On Cups Off course, he was offered part-time work,” she said.

“An accredited and certificated course really makes a difference.

“I’m sure having a certificate that proves students have the knowledge background in rearing healthy calves will help some of them to gain employment during calving season.”

Tania and Clint Staley farm at Toora South, milking 750 cows in a 50-bale rotary dairy.

Their farm hosted the students for the day two practical session of the Cups On Cups Off course, delivered by Andrew Perry.

“Our shed is a two-person shed at Cups On, and we have automatic Cups Off and teat spray,” Tania said.

“We use GippsDairy a lot for courses to upskill ourselves and our staff.

“We got involved in the Dairy Learn Pathways Program because there’s a lack of young adults in the industry, and we want them to be able to see hands-on what the dairy industry may look like for them one day.

“If that leads them to a career in dairy, for me, that would be the best outcome for myself or any other dairy farmer involved in this program.”

The students also participated in developing a set of guidelines to adhere to for participating in the program, created smart goals, and tracked them as the sessions progressed.

Working with Dr Nicole McDonald from Central Queensland University, the students identified their personal skills and interests and learned about how these articulate into work roles.

“We aim to get students reflecting on these transferable skills, and understand pathways into dairy are not always linear,” Nicole said.

“We also focused on two key skill areas – communication and resilience.

“Students practised giving instructions in a number of ways, working in pairs to guide each other through different tasks.

“We also discussed how working in dairy will involve a lot of learning on the job.

“New entrants can’t expect to get everything right. We spoke about how we can best handle mistakes, how to receive feedback and seek advice to grow our skills and ability, and how to work through challenging situations.”

The program is funded through Dairy Australia for the second year in a row, with support from the participating tutors, farmers and service centres.

“We’re hoping we can continue beyond this year and get some more funding,” Lynn said.

“As long as the program is running, Leongatha Secondary College will be part of it. Our principal is a big supporter of it.

“Delivering it in term two meant it fitted in with school programs, and attendance from the students was good.

“Part of the funding model enables CRT teacher cover, and that makes a difference for the schools to participate.

“A big highlight for the students is the food. Every week they looked forward to the food that Belinda organised for them.”