by Elaine Nunez-Caguioa

Last week I went to Warrnambool and surrounding areas to visit several clients who own dairy farms within the region. It was great to see the farms and how they operate. I got a real glimpse of life on a farm and how we all get our delicious Australian fresh milk.The dairy industry delivers $13 billion of value to the economy every year by producing close to 9.2 billion litres of milk annually.

However, this industry has long been suffering ongoing skills shortages, given they are in very remote locations. They would have preferred hiring Australian workers but they are simply nowhere to be found in these areas.  The ones they do find, do not last very long. We have helped these farm owners. The feedback I received is that they are happy with the skilled Filipino and Dutch workers. Given that they are qualified Vets and Agricultural professionals with many years of experience in dairy farming, they manage all aspects of the farming operations with minimal supervision.  The farm owners can finally have some time to themselves, their families and get a good night’s rest.  Now they can focus on getting more land, more cows and expand their businesses. They expressed interest in recruiting more farmers in the future, as well keeping the existing employees by sponsoring them for permanent residency.

I also spoke with the overseas workers, to see how they've settled in. The isolation and being away from families can be quite confronting at the start, but over time, they were able to adapt and have now integrated within the community.

I aim to continue to help more farms as this industry is still clearly suffering skill shortages.

If you know a farm owner located in any Regional area who is experiencing the same problem, I would appreciate a warm introduction to see how I can help them.