EXCITING times are on the horizon for young gun Braden Hayes as his final semester of university is about to wrap up with a job prospect already in sight.
Coming from a 3400 hectare family farm at Quairading, with about 2000 Merino ewes and a broadacre cropping program including canola, wheat and barley, Braden had always known he had wanted to work in the agriculture industry.
But he was at a loss to decide exactly what to do, so opted for Curtin University’s agribusiness degree.
“I always knew I wanted to work in the agriculture sector but it’s such a massive industry, so it was about working out what interested me the most and I thought an agribusiness degree would give me broad exposure to the industry,” Braden said. “The degree has been good because it’s balanced well between the theory and practical side of the science and there’s also really good balance between the science and the business so it’s a unique degree compared to a lot of other ag degrees.
”The family farm, known as Kenmuir, has been in Braden’s family for more than 100 years and he said the passion of his parents, Greg and Jo, has been his biggest motivator throughout university and has driven him to try to break into the agriculture industry.
“My family and being from a farm have been my biggest influences – seeing how passionate mum and dad are just drives me and there is a feeling of safety knowing that it’s a good industry and my parents have made a living out of something they enjoy,” he said.
“I can’t fault the industry – it is one of the most rewarding and definitely now one of the most exciting industries which has proved its longevity and is probably one of the most important in WA and Australia.
”As with many young people, choosing a career path is no easy task and it certainly hasn’t been for Braden and work experience proved to be a crucial factor for finding the right road to head down.
For the first two years of his degree, Braden had thought that a position in the business sector of agriculture would suit him well, but work experience told him otherwise and prompted him to try something new which ended up being precision agriculture.
“It’s about trying everything to see what you like and that will be the same with precision agriculture – I will try it a bit more and see how it goes,” Braden said.
A few weeks with independent precision agriculture consultant Ben Stewart, owner of Stewart Ag, gave Braden some hands-on experience of precision agriculture which, for the first time, really sparked his interest.
“It was a sector of the industry that I didn’t really have much idea existed but there’s so much demand for precision ag guidance and advice,” he said.
“(The work experience was) in the scope of GPS, using a lot of spatial tools and mapping which really interested me and that is a job prospect for me now.” Braden said he had found a saturation in the agronomy sector but after working with Ben, he believes precision agriculture is on track to be the next big thing in the industry.
“I guess when talking with the perspective of feeding a global and growing population, we have to keep doing everything we are doing but more efficiently and precision agriculture is really the only answer for that,’’ he said.
“I think there is a lot of opportunity in that realm and it interests me and I think it’s just cool playing with technology and seeing the capabilities of some of the machines.”
Once Braden completes his final work placements through the university, he is planning to start a graduate position with Stewart Ag within the next two months.
Not many students have their first graduate job lined up before they have finished their degree, but with Braden’s passion for the industry and determination to gain some experience and enter the workforce, it’s no surprise that he’s been snapped up by an employer already.
“I have had a few chats with him (Ben) and within the next couple of months, I will be coming on board which is exciting,” Braden said.Country towns are renowned for having close-knit communities and Braden has found the agriculture industry to be similar.
“The best part about agriculture is the people – in my experience the industry is 100 per cent relationship-based,” he said.
“It’s a relatively small industry, so you don’t have to go far without bumping into someone you know or someone who knows someone you know and I like that.
“I might be out of my comfort zone sometimes but the people are always friendly.”
Braden’s future looks promising as it only takes a short conversation with him to notice his passion for the industry, which stems from a long family history of dedication to farming.
“Over the next two to three years I plan to just be a sponge and absorb as much information and knowledge as I can,” he said.
“I also hope to do some travelling to Canada and America because they’re utilising their technology and they have a lot to teach us.
“So I will just see where the next few years take me – I haven’t made up my mind about whether I’ll go back to the farm or not, it’s definitely always in the back of my mind as something I want to do.
”With many young people experiencing uncertainty about their career prospects, Braden could vouch for agriculture as having experienced first-hand its reliability for offering employment. “There will always be jobs in agriculture, it’s not a saturated market and there’s a lot of innovation and research going into it,” he said.
“It can service a massive range of interests, whether that’s science, marketing or business – agriculture has a job for anyone interested in those fields.”
