Birds of a feather

Published 27 February 2019

New-age training - using virtual chickens and Lego - to address labour shortfalls in the poultry industry could help inspire the next generation of much-needed farm workers across a range of agricultural sectors.

Rapid expansion of chicken meat production in the Tamworth region will soon demand an additional 600 workers, and Poultry Hub Australia, based at the University of New England (UNE), is raising the bar on the training they receive.

Poultry Hub Director, Associate Professor Tamsyn Crowley, believes the training will not only help meet immediate staffing needs for the proposed new chicken sheds; it also has the potential to contribute immeasurably to national food security.

"Australian agriculture has an ageing workforce and we face many challenges attracting young people to farming," A/Prof Crowley said. "We hope this kind of innovative training will help place more value on agricultural jobs and the contributions that our rural workforce makes.

"This new workforce will begin producing food for the world and that's exactly the kind of thinking we hope to encourage. Younger people need a greater sense of ownership within agriculture. Because without engaged and committed staff, we don't have agricultural industries."

The training strategy is being developed as part of the Youth Employment Innovation Challenge and brings together industry representatives, scientists and educators to help tackle some of agriculture's most vexing issues. The Youth Employment Innovation Challenge is a $10 million NSW Government program that provides funding to innovative solutions and ideas that help young people find employment in NSW.

"We know we have challenges in the poultry industry, like other agricultural industries, around welfare and sustainability," A/Prof Crowley said. "Young people, with respect for the animals and fresh ideas, are our future workforce. They will be the ones with the ideas to resolve some of these issues and ensure that production is viable well into the future."

In addition to shed and processing staff, workers will be needed in the Tamworth region in allied transport and feed services.The Hub's interactive youth training aims to give newcomers a solid grounding in chicken handling, bird health, bio-security and occupational health and safety - training that will serve as a model for Australian agriculture, which has been historically beset by education challenges. The Hub’s education officer Dr Natalie Morgan said: "We have avenues to offer training online through UNE, to reach new employees in agriculture wherever they are."

Poultry Hub Australia surveys of Tamworth high school students revealed that many felt they had to leave home to find employment. "In reality, there are jobs in the Tamworth region; they just don't know the jobs are there," Dr Morgan said."The two most popular industries the students cited were healthcare and agribusiness, which suggests to me a massive disconnect. There is interest in agricultural careers, but we are not harnessing that interest."

A pilot training session that involved would-be poultry staff training chickens with a food reward - engendering contact with and respect for the birds - was highly popular and the Poultry Hub is now collaborating with TAFE Digital to create a virtual chicken, to foster learning about anatomy and behaviour. Additional hands-on sessions will be held at UNE's state-of-the-art poultry facilities in Armidale.

"While the industry has a variety of jobs available, many of the new positions in the Tamworth region will be at entry level, so we are developing creative ways to assess staff new to the industry, without the need for written tests," A/Prof Crowley said. "Building with Lego, for instance,is one way we think we can explore bio-security issues."

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