A farm manager is an employee of a farmer who is paid to manage a farm or group of farms. Depending on the type of farm, farm managers may be required to perform a variety of tasks, including deciding on the crops and livestock, planning farming activities, supervising other employees, planting, spraying, harvesting and selling crops, handling all aspects of livestock production, recording all details (including financial) about the farm and planning the strategic direction of the farm.

ANZSCO ID: 1220

Alternative names: Farm Overseer,

Knowledge, skills and attributes   

• planning skills

• problem solving skills

• work independently

• computer skills

• like working outdoors

• communication skills

• mechanical skills

• enjoy working with animals

• management and organisation skills     

Kristin Pearce Manager Piggery
https://youtu.be/LJc4cHj7HxU

 

Duties and Tasks

• Prepare or assist with preparation of annual forecasts, budgets and other business plans

• Recruit, supervise and ensure the ongoing training of farm staff

• Maintain production and other farm records including the estimated operating costs, ordering of farm inputs, marketing of produce and monitoring of animal health and feeding requirements

• Control costs of production in line with budget expectation

• Produce crops and/or livestock to achieve volume, quality and cost objectives

• Clean and maintain buildings, sheds, equipment and facilities to ensure health standards and high quality of produce

• Ensure safe and effective handling of equipment

• Undertake activities to minimise environmental degradation.

• Monitor environmental effects of farming activities and repair existing damage

• Plan and organise marketing and sale of produce to achieve high returns

Working conditions

A farm manager may have to work outside in all kinds of weather conditions and
usually starts work early in the morning. They may also work long hours. They need to be safety conscious when working with agricultural machinery.

Tools and technologies

Farm managers need to be proficient with a wide range of farming machinery and hand tools. It is also an advantage if they have the ability to maintain or repair the machinery. Increasingly, farm managers need to be proficient with computers and may be required to use specialised farm management software.

Education and training/entrance requirements

To become a farm manager you usually need to complete a formal qualification in agriculture, agribusiness, animal science or a related field.

The Diploma of Agriculture is offered at TAFE Colleges and other registered training organisations throughout Australia.

You can also complete a degree majoring in agribusiness, agricultural science or animal science.

You can work as a farm manager without any formal qualifications, however, skills in farm management, crop production or animal husbandry are usually required. You may be able to gain these skills through work experience in a related role.

Did You Know? ABC Landline 4 July 2020 Salt Farmers Unusual farming... Using seawater and plenty of time, a family-owned business 'farms' over 60,000 tonnes of salt a year. It is used for everything from cooking to grazing supplements to swimming pools. Landline - Port Alma salt farming https://youtu.be/_Ml_hmdQg5I

Farm hands assist farmers and graziers with growing crops and feeding and raising livestock. Farm hand work can be physically demanding. During lambing, calving, mustering, harvesting or fruit picking time, farm hands may be required to work long and irregular hours.

Accommodation may be provided by the employer on the property.

ANZSCO ID: 841611

Alternative names: General Farm Hand, Station Hand,

Specialisations:

Beef Cattle Farm Worker: ANZSCO ID: 841511: perform routine tasks on beef cattle farms, such as feeding, mustering and moving cattle, and assisting with animal husbandry.

Dairy Cattle Farm Hand/Worker - ANZSCO ID: 841512: works on farms mainly concerned with milk production. They round up cows, secure them in bails in the milking shed, wash udders with a solution of detergent and water, attach milking apparatus to udders and milk cows. They may also be involved in the breeding side of dairy farming.

Piggery Worker - ANZSCO ID: 841599: raises pigs for meat production or for sale as breeding stock. They breed sows with selected boars, work out feed formulas, inject serum to prevent disease and clean and disinfect buildings and pig pens. They also keep breeding and feeding records.

Poultry Farm Hand - ANZSCO ID: 841514: works on farms concerned with egg production or raising poultry for sale. They may keep eggs in incubators, look after the newly hatched chickens and provide them with feed and water, and disinfect hatcheries to prevent disease. Poultry Farm Workers perform routine tasks on poultry farms, such as collecting eggs and placing them in incubators, providing poultry with feed and water, and disinfecting hatcheries to prevent disease.

Sheep Farm Worker - ANZSCO ID: 841515 musters stock for branding, shearing, crutching, dipping and yarding for sale. They also maintain fences, bores, troughs and windmills.

 

   
Knowledge, skills and attributes 

• enjoy practical work

• able to cope with the physical demands of the job

• able to undertake manual and heavy work

• able to handle animals with confidence and patience

• enjoy working outdoors

• able to work for long hours and in all kinds of weather conditions

• able to work both in a team and with limited social contact

• mechanical aptitude

(Source: ThePigSite)

 

Duties and Tasks

• patrols, inspects and reports on the condition of livestock

• provide livestock with feed and water

• assist with maintaining the health and welfare of livestock

• musters and drives livestock to milking and between paddocks to ensure sufficient feed is available

• prepare milking machinery and assist with milking operations

• washes and cleans udders, attaches milking machines and milks cows

• cleans milking shed.

• cultivate soil, sow crops and control weeds by slashing, rotary hoeing or chemical spraying

• plant ground crops between rows of trees and bushes to control weeds and soil temperatures/span>

• construct wire trellises (frames) to support vines, berries and fruit

• ttake part in harvesting operations using tractors, harvesters, forklifts and hand tools

• clean and sterilise farm equipment/span>

• clear away animal waste and hose out operational areas

• perform other tasks involved with the breeding and raising of livestock, such as shearing, dipping, branding, crutching, gelding, marking and assisting with artificial insemination

• ride horses or motorbikes to muster sheep or cattle

• maintain and repair farm buildings, bores, fences, machinery, troughs, windmills and other equipment

Working conditions

Farm hands may be required to work long and irregular hours. Accommodation may be provided by the employer on the property.

 

Education and training/entrance requirements

You can work as a farm hand without formal qualifications. You will probably get some informal training on the job. You can also become a farm hand through a traineeship in Agriculture.

Entry requirements may vary, but employers generally require Year 10.

Additional Information
  
Once you are employed, you may be able to develop, and have recognised, additional skills under the Agriculture, Horticulture and Conservation and Land Management Training Package that will expand your career opportunities within this industry.

Employment Opportunities

There are opportunities to progress quickly, once skills are obtained, and to specialise in certain areas, including agribusiness enterprises.

Skilled farm hands may undertake further study and, in time, become farm managers, enter into share-farming partnerships or purchase their own farming operation. Others go on to work in businesses and government agencies that service rural communities and farmers/farm managers.

Did You Know? ABC News 1 November 2018 'Rock farmers' digging up ancient, volcanic past for high-end home landscaping. Have you ever thought about the rocks used in landscaping and where they came from? This is the story of two people who farm rocks! "There are tree changers and sea changers, but Carol and Ian Elliott's life began to rock when they bought an ancient volcanic mountain in Queensland. For 18 years the former landscapers have been unearthing the marvels created millions of years ago by cooling lava at Wolvi, north of Noosa. Stonemasons then use their rocks to make architectural statements in high-end homes and to build feature walls and waterfalls in the gardens of the rich. "I can remember when we were kids and helping dad on the farm, we would be throwing rocks into a gully out of the cultivation," Ms Elliott laughed. Now they earn a living from the basalt beauties they pull from the earth of their 'rock farm'. Listen to Carol & Ian Elliott's story https://abcmedia.akamaized.net/news/audio/201812/rural-qld-a-big-country-rock-harvesting.MP3

Related Jobs or Work with these Jobs
(Jobs not linked are currently being worked on)

Aquacultural Farmer	Beekeeper	Crop Farmer Crop Farm Worker	Floriculturalist
Grain, Oilseed and Pasture Grower	Jillaroo/Jackeroo	Livestock Farmer	Olericulturalist Vegetable Farm Worker Vegetable Grower Vegetable Picker
Permaculturalist	Pomologist Fruit & Nut Farm Worker Fruit & Nut Picker	Shearer	Viticulturalist

 Materials sourced from
Jobs & Skills WA [Farm Manager];
CareersOnline [Farm Hand;Farmer/Manager;]
ABS [Farm Manager; ]
CareerHarvest [Farm Manager;; ]
CareerHQ [Farmer or Farm Manager; ]
Your Career [Dairy Cattle Farm Worker; Beef Cattle Farm Worker; Sheep Farm Worker; Poultry Farm Worker; Other Livestock Farm Worker;  ]