Author: Liam Palmer

At Agri Labour Australia (ALA), we have the country covered when it comes to farm work and agriculture careers.

With clients and staff all over this expansive land, we connect our candidates with great jobs, excellent pay rates and the best working conditions. Our genuine care for the people who work for us is one of the reasons behind our great reviews and loyal staff – when you work for us, you become part of ‘My Agri Family’!

We know many of our candidates want to travel and see Australia while working. ALA specialises in helping our team members explore the country, by placing them in roles near or where they are wanting to visit. The only catch – you need to prove yourself to be a dedicated and reliable worker!

Australia is a big place, so to help you understand the various regions and the work available we will highlight a different state or territory to showcase the industries, type of work, places to see and best time of year to work there.

This month we are looking at New South Wales! Australia’s founding state, NSW is one of the smaller regions in Australia, but it’s got incredible diversity and has a big population! The northern areas of the state are quite temperate, but when you head west into the Orana and further south into places like the Riverina-Murray and Tablelands, the temperature cools significantly.

Agriculture industries

The state has eight key regions that support an incredible range of agriculture industries including:

• Fruit – berries, apples, bananas and grapes
• Nuts and olives
• Livestock – sheep, poultry, goats and cattle
• Grain – wheat, barley, oats, pulses
• Broadacre – cotton and canola
• Dairy
• Rice
• Wine making
• Aquaculture

Types of work available

The list is endless for work opportunities. Whether you’ve got some experience, you’re unskilled or have a trade, there’s always plenty on offer. Some are short term, others like cotton and grain harvest can go for longer periods and see you earning some serious dollars! Here are just some of the roles we regularly advertise for:

• Tractor & forklift drivers
• Mechanics & maintenance fitters
• Poulty attendants
• Cotton harvest teams
• Grain harvest staff
• Fruit pickers
• Meat, fish & fresh produce processors
• Farm hands

Things to see and do

NSW offers the best of both worlds with its beautiful coastline and rugged ranges. There is the incredible scenery of the Hunter Valley (where some of Australia’s best wines are made), Guy Fawkes River National Park, the Blue Mountains and exciting snow fields of Thredbo and Perisher. The Far West region delivers the perfect outback experience for those who are looking to see stunning landscapes and big skies. The coastal regions speak for themselves with lush land and incredible beaches for surfing and playing.

Best time to be there

Any time! The climate in NSW lends itself to a wide range of jobs and fun activities throughout the year.

Check out our candidate testimonials, and view current jobs and upcoming harvests here!

While most of Australia has been doing well with managing Covid-19 over the last few months, things have shifted quickly with snap lockdowns taking place all over the country – including rural and regional areas.

With these cooler months making all of us more vulnerable to various colds and illnesses, it’s absolutely vital that our teams keep themselves, their workmates and our communities as safe and healthy as possible.

It can be easy to get relaxed about social distancing and strict hygiene practices. However, we all need to help stop the spread so here’s some reminder tips:

1. If you have any cold or flu like symptoms, please let your supervisor know immediately
2. Get tested if you have been anywhere listed as a contact point
3. Always carry masks with you – keep them in your car or your bags
4. Social distance and make sure you sanitise and wash your hands as frequently as possible
5. If you are travelling interstate please ensure you check what the current restrictions are for that state or territory

For More Information

Visit the Australian Government’s Coronavirus website or contact the Coronavirus Helpline: 1800 020 030 (all hours)

Working in Australia’s great agri industry doesn’t have to mean a move to the outback.

If you’ve always dreamed of a job in agriculture but don’t want to move to a rural or remote region, Agri Labour Australia has just the career for you. With a diverse range of city-based jobs in metro areas around the country, these largely ongoing positions are less weather-dependent than their rural counterparts, and mean there’s no need to leave your life in the city.

Available jobs are varied and plentiful, and can include:

• Process workers
  
• Quality-assurance personnel
  
• Stock controllers
  
• Hygiene workers
  
• Maintenance fitters
  
• Team leaders
  
• Production supervisors
  
• Machinery operators
  
• Forklift drivers

The automation in the Australian agriculture industry is some of the most advanced in the world, and the level of job satisfaction derived from working in an efficient, paddock-to-plate process that benefits Aussie families is huge. With so many agriculture companies now having metro bases and offering excellent job progression, your career path can be continuous and stable whilst still enjoying all the benefits of city living. 

Another benefit of working at a metro-based agriculture business is that the rates of pay tend to be higher than at their rural and seasonal counterparts. Generally starting at around $25-$26 per hour for a new starter, Sunday rates can go up to $40 per hour and beyond – great rates that make a fulfilling job even more rewarding. 

Finally, with an increasing number of workers in the Australian agriculture industry coming from the domestic workforce, your colleagues will be both casual and permanent employees ranging from new recruits to industry experts – and whatever your skill-set, there’s an agriculture role for you. So if you’re a city-dweller looking for a long-term career path in one of the most rewarding industries around, the opportunities within the Aussie agriculture industry are some of the very best.

Australia! One of the most popular places in the world for people to work while travelling. Australia has it all when it comes to working holidays. With an incredible range of landscapes and climates, Australia offers spectacular scenery and a huge range of work options wherever travellers go.

With Covid-19 still impacting on travel restrictions and so many farmers finding it a challenge to get good staff, there’s enormous opportunity for motivated people wanting to work and travel across the country.

At Agri Labour Australia, we are always looking for great people to join our team. Whether you are traveling with friends, flying solo or are an adventure seeking couple – we’ve got loads of options for you in almost every state and territory.

Our company is known for great working conditions and we are proud of our reputation as an employer of choice among backpackers and working holiday makers from all over the world! We have employed people from the following countries:

Algeria Argentina Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bangladesh Belgium Bhutan Brazil Burundi Cambodia Canada Chile China Colombia Congo Cyprus Czechia Denmark Ecuador Estonia Ethiopia Fiji

Finland France Germany Ghana Greece Hong Kong Hungary India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jordan Kenya Kiribati Korea Lao Macau Malaysia Malta

Mexico Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nigeria Norway Pakistan Papua New Guinea Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Romania Rwanda Samoa Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa Spain

Sri Lanka Sudan Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan Thailand Timor-Leste Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Turkey Turkmenistan Uganda Ukraine United Kingdom USA Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Zambia Zimbabwe

We get so many great testimonials from our international candidates. Mathieu Plante and Lisa Androge from France recently took the time to upload a video for us on how working with ALA is helping them travel the country while experiencing different agricultural jobs.

Mathieu and Lisa had a job within three days of applying and we are happy to say they’ve now been with us for over six months. They have been a great asset on the grain and almond harvests, and are now starting on the cotton harvest.

While everyone who works for us has their own story, most of our candidates say the same things about ALA. ‘ALA takes care of us’, ‘ALA really helped us and made sure we were getting paid, having breaks and knew our job’, ‘ALA gave us the best jobs we’ve had since arriving in Australia’.

If you’re considering your work and travel options while in Australia, check out the fantastic jobs on the ALA website. Our team is ready to make you feel welcome and help you start your very next adventure!

 

Our latest Candidate Conversation is with one of our most memorable people, Su Lunga – which means Rainbow! Living up to her wonderful name, Rainbow brings happiness and smiles wherever she goes.

Rainbow has been a part of the Agri Labour Australia team since 2020, and is known for her positivity, smile, hard work and reliability.

We had a chat with Rainbow about what she likes about working in Australia and what her next plans are for the next year. We love talking with Rainbow and also watching her fantastic YouTube video which we know you’ll enjoy as much as we did.

Name: Su Lunga

English nickname: Rainbow

Birthplace: Alxa, Inner Mongolia, China

How long have you been in Australia?

Arrived in Australia in January 2020

What is the role you are currently performing?   
I have been picking coriander in Nobby, which is a small farming community near Toowoomba in Queensland.

What’s the best part about your job?
People care about each other. There’s not a lot of pressure and it’s nice to see everybody enjoying their work and being calm and relaxed.

What’s the most challenging?
Weather! Sometimes it is hot and wet and some places I visited there were a lot of insects or occasionally, snakes! But this is still OK.

What are your career goals?
For now, I think I want to start my Master’s degree in Linguistics, but what I really want to do, is go home to Mongolia and become a herdsman so I can pass down the traditional culture.

How has ALA helped you while you have been working with us?  

ALA have been very helpful to me. Especially Parris! They found me a job that I could start immediately and were always so considerate in helping me with my accommodation and transport problems.

Favourite place in rural Australia and why?
My favourite rural place is Nobby.  The working atmosphere was great and I saved money while I was there! We also got to spend time on the weekends hiking and exploring interesting places which I really enjoyed.

Advice to anyone wanting to do farm work in Australia?

Working with Agri Labour Australia was the best thing for me! Helpful, encouraging and they placed me with good jobs that paid well.

Where to next?

I’m working in the Gold Coast now, after that I’ll go to Melbourne then Tasmania. I extended my visa so I could be here longer as Australia is just SOOO GOOD!

Australian universities have now officially kicked off for the year. While lots of your friends might be excited and ready to commit to another few long years of study, perhaps you’re just not feeling it. Maybe you’d planned to head overseas to work in the UK while backpacking around Europe but, we all know how that’s going right now…

If adventure is calling you but you’re not sure where to go or where to start, then working in agriculture could be exactly what you’re looking for!

From the stunning tropics of North Queensland to the wilds of Tasmania and everything in between, your choices are endless when it comes to working on farms and seeing Australia.

At Agri Labour Australia we are known for having the best jobs in agriculture. Our clients are checked to ensure they provide our candidates with the best possible working conditions, we make sure you will be part of a positive work culture and get a fair start with the right training and information to do your job well. As for money – we negotiate leading industry hourly rates and guarantee you’ll be paid on time every week.

Work options are flexible with short and medium contracts, or longer stints of up to six months in some places. Many of our clients have multiple sites across different states which means you can travel from site to site as the seasons peak and change.

Cotton harvest is one of the most exciting events on the Australian agriculture calendar. Living and working Queensland or NSW, cotton harvest offers great earning potential, incredible landscapes and a memorable time for those who get the chance to join in.

Learning on the job is all part of working in agriculture so in many cases, it’s not about having experience – it’s about commitment, reliability and having the right attitude. Here’s just some of the options you can choose from when backpacking and working in agriculture:

• Aquaculture attendants
• Fruit and vegetable picking
• Tree planting
• Harvests – grain, cotton, blueberry, tomato, almond
• Tractor and machinery operation
• Poultry
• Livestock
• Storage and handling
• General farm hand

There’s a lot to be said about making a difference and when you work in ag, you know are contributing to the food we eat and the clothes we wear. It’s a truly satisfying feeling!

We live, breath and love Australian agriculture and know people who spend some time in this incredible industry make lifelong friends and fantastic, long lasting memories. Check out our current positions and upcoming harvests today! 

With agriculture recruitment busier than ever and so many fantastic candidates joining the Agri Labour Australia (ALA) family, we thought it was time we introduced some of our team members to you.

We spend a lot of time choosing the right people to represent ALA. As a family owned business, we look for those who share the same strong values as ourselves. We are a genuine bunch of people, who are dedicated to helping candidates find rewarding employment while also making a real difference to the Australian agriculture industry.

One such person is Rhys Hensens (sometimes known as Smiley!), who is our latest Tasmanian branch recruit. Tasmanian born and bred, Rhys’s qualifications as a diesel mechanic and knowledge of heavy vehicles means that he understands the agriculture industry from a different perspective.

Equipped with various licences including forklift, Rhys is able to assist in assessing and training new candidates to help skill them up for new roles. His great attitude and easy going way with people make him a popular staff member with both colleagues and candidates.

Always ready to help and highly excitable when it comes to motorsport, here’s what else we know about Rhys ‘Smiley’ Hensens.

Name: Rhys Hensens

Role: Account Manager (Tasmania)

Office location: Devonport, Tasmania

Qualifications/trades: Cert 3 Heavy Road Transport, forklift and truck licence

What did you do before joining ALA?

I gained an apprenticeship as a diesel mechanic at a local truck workshop in the Devonport area straight after high school and spent five years there. After that, I moved to the local Toyota dealership in the light vehicle sector, and focused on Toyota and Isuzu training for almost seven years.

What drew you to working with ALA?

I enjoy seeing new places and learning the ‘nuts and bolts’ of how everything works. The agriculture industry certainly has plenty to learn and see! I have wanted to move off the tools full time, back to a hobby, and I thought this role would be an ideal way to help people. So far it has been very rewarding, and most people are appreciative of the effort we put in!

What skills (unique or otherwise) do you bring to your role?

Good question, I think there are some transferable skills from the mechanical world to this one. One thing I bring with me from my time with Toyota is the mindset of ‘Kaizen’ which means ‘continuous improvement’. I think it’s important to constantly evolve and I like to apply this to my professional and personal life.

Most recently, I have adopted the unofficial title of the ALA Fleet Maintenance Technician – getting my hands back on the tools is something I still enjoy!

What are you enjoying about working with ALA?

The workplace culture, everyone is so helpful, I am so appreciative!

I love the challenge of learning new things, so this role has certainly put me to the test. It is great to learn how the food we eat gets from paddock to plate, and it is great to be a part of that as well.

I also love to socialise – this job sees me meeting heaps of great new people!

Where did you grow up?  

East Devonport! Local boy through and through!

What are your hobbies and interests?

Big fan of motorsport, Pikes Peak Hill climb, Isle of Mann TT, Dakar rally, anything that gets sideways very fast. I also have a passion for 1970’s and 1980’s Toyotas.

Hobbies include all sorts of things – I enjoy gaming and music (not much good at playing, enthusiastic at listening!) working on my own cars to make them unique, woodwork and metal work is fast becoming a passion and spending time with my kids. Photography is awesome fun, specifically macro and landscape shots, the list goes on!

Do you have a secret talent?!

If I told you, would it still be a secret?

Favourite place in Australia and why?

Tassie! Best place on earth I think. Coastal NSW and the Great Ocean Road are pretty cool and I have always wanted to go to Paronella Park, the Daintree, and drive to the tip of Qld.

 

Considering a career in the amazing Tasmanian agriculture sector? Get in touch with us today on 1300 247 823.

In recent weeks there have been several stories about business operators doing the wrong thing by farm workers employed to do picking and other harvesting duties. While this is disappointing news, we thought it’s a good time to explore how you can best protect yourself when looking for employment in the Australian agriculture sector.

Connect with a Reputable Labour Hire Company

Of course, we have to say that working with Agri Labour Australia is always your best and safest option! We have closely screened our clients to make sure they are compliant to all industry standards for your work environment, duties and your pay.

We have great clients and rewarding work all over Australia, however, in the event that you might be sourcing farm work outside of ALA, here’s a few things you should be looking for to make sure you’re going to be working on a farm where you’ll be treated fairly:

• Training – you are shown your job and provided with all the necessary information so you can do your job to the best of your ability.
• Safety – when you start, you are advised of the safety and hygiene measures in place on the farm and what is expected from you to keep yourself and your teammates safe.
• Wages – being paid the correct rate with any included loadings/entitlements. Beware of operators who try to negotiate cash deals with you before you’ve even started.
• Respect – you and your teammates are communicated with in a respectful manner at all times.

There are many farm jobs across the country offering great incentives to good, hard working staff. From accommodation, meals, access to vehicles and unlimited internet access – a smart business will value their staff and treat them well.

With the Australian summer harvest season now in full swing, ALA has a range of fantastic job opportunities for both experienced farm workers and beginners. From the tropics of the Northern Territory and Queensland, to the outback of NSW, Victoria and Western Australia and down to the beautiful cooler climates of South Australia and Tasmania, we’ve got great agriculture roles to suit all levels.  All you need is a great attitude and a commitment to doing your best work!

If you’re travelling and keen to see the country while you work, we’ll try to keep connecting you to work in the places you’re heading. Alternatively, you can check out our website and view the extensive range of jobs and locations we have on offer and choose where you’d like to go.

Visit our Candidates page today for our current roles, upcoming harvests and much more!

Australian agriculture is an exciting and growing sector offering diversity and endless options for school leavers or those simply looking for a new career pathway.

All over Australia, agriculture is booming and with the federal government committed to guide agriculture’s growth to $100 billion by 2030, it’s definitely an industry worth taking a closer look at.

From farm hands, irrigators and pen riders to genetic scientists, sales representatives and tradies, there’s an incredible variety of roles to choose from depending on your interests, skills and abilities.

For many people considering their job options, agriculture may not initially spring to mind. However, there’s a lot more to ag than dirt and dust (there can also be plenty of that!). Today’s farming offers excellent career development, role diversity, travel opportunities and incredible life experiences.

Technology

These days farmers are utilising smarter technology and new methods to get more from their land, improve outputs and to help make better use of their time. Technology also has a big impact on reducing some of the manual labour required on jobs, making some roles easier to do. And, although rural and regional areas are a distance from the major cities, once again technology links these places, enabling people to stay connected and up to date with whatever is happening across the world or at home any time.

Farming now sees drones, smart phone apps, GPS trackers, robots and other advancing technology to support many day to day activities – all making for some pretty interesting work when you get down to it!

Fast Career Advancement

Another major plus working within agriculture is the ability for good workers to quickly progress their careers without always needing qualifications. Learning on the job sees you gathering skills and information that are then applicable across a range of roles. Using the poultry industry as an example, it’s not unusual for someone to start as an egg collector/packer and then advance to a supervisor or manager within 18 months (performance based).

Smart business operators reward good workers with promotions and pay rises to ensure the knowledge stays within the business for better continuity and improved workplace culture.

Personal Reward

Like every industry, agriculture has its challenges. Australia’s dramatic landscape has seen us in the grip of drought, fires and floods but our farmers stay working because they love it. When you work in agriculture, you can be confident you are making a genuine contribution to a much bigger picture. Without farms, there’s no food and no textiles for clothing – every single job on every farm helps feed and clothe someone in the world, which is pretty impressive when you think about it.

Lifestyle

Rural and regional living offers the best of both worlds with many country towns offering a thriving community with great people, excellent sporting grounds, schools, adventure, incredible scenery and much cheaper accommodation.

Tens of thousands of people flock to Australia every year for seasonal work but there are many who choose to stay working in remote areas because they fall in love with the work, the communities and the people living in it.

Livestock, horticulture, Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), cotton, grain, dairy, aquaculture, food production, poultry, medicinal crops and more – each of these industries is supported by thousands of people who each play a pivotal role in the Australian agriculture sector.

So, when you’re considering your career options, take the time to look at agriculture and see how you too, can be part of this amazing industry.