Land and Food Resources

Careers in Farming and Agriculture

Agriculture is everywhere. From the clothing you wear (cotton jeans and t-shirts, woollen jumpers and coats, leather shoes and jackets) to the food you eat and drink. It is big business: the production, processing and distribution of agricultural products employs millions of Australians. And with a concern for sustainable production come jobs in conservation and environmental management.

Graduate Profiles

Kasia BanaszakKatarzyna (Kasia) Banaszak

Bachelor of Natural Resource Management

Kasia is now a pricing administrator in Resource Management at National Foods Inc.

 

“My degree helped me develop a range of work-related skills such as analysis, report writing, research and methods of thinking about solutions to real-world issues."

 

 

 

Alice O'BrienAlice O’Brien

Bachelor of Agricultural Science/Diploma of Modern Languages (2008)

Former president, Land and Food Resources Student Association

Agribusiness graduate position at Westpac (Ballarat, Victoria).

"Studying Agricultural Science gave me exposure to many diverse areas of agriculture. We learnt about the practical applications, theory and business skills associated with various agricultural ventures. My current role is in Agribusiness dealing most specifically with finance.  My Ag Science degree has been valuable in building rapport with clients as I have a deeper understanding of agricultural industries and their practical requirements.  I am enjoying expanding my business acumen and applying it to agricultural industries. "

Employed within 3 months of course completion.

 

Tyler NelsonTyler Nelson

Bachelor of Agricultural Science (2008)

Tyler Nelson works in food and fibre production on farming enterprise in Boort, Victoria.

 

Tyler recieved the Dean’s Honour Award and was employed prior to completion of degree.

 

 

 

 

Nicole McCurryNicole McCurry

Bachelor of Agricultural Science (2008)

Nicole now works with Murray Goulburn as an Agronomist, Rochester, Victoria

 

 

Nicole McCurry was employed within four months of course completion.

 

 

 

Jennifer Henry
B.Agr.Sci (Hons), PhD
Managing Editor of Functional Plant Biology

Jennifer graduated with a B.Agr.Sci (Hons) in 1990 and worked in a range of roles for the Department of Agriculture, including a Cereal Chemist at VIDA in Horsham, and a Chemical Information Officer with the Chemical Standards Branch in East Melbourne. She then worked as a researcher with ‘Australian Agricultural Audio’, producing audio information tapes for grain growers and dairy farmers across Australia. “It was through interviewing research scientists that I realised I wanted to be on the other end of the microphone, and that it was time to specialise,” she says, explaining her decision to return to study after five years in the workforce. She commenced a PhD in 1996 with Dr Paul Taylor at ILFR and Dr Phil Larkin at CSIRO Plant Industry in Canberra, studying the transfer of aschochyta blight resistance genes from Lathyrus sp. into field pea via electrofusion.

Towards the end of her PhD, Jennifer was keen to return to science communication, and took a casual job as a freelance copyeditor for Australian Journal of Plant Physiology (later Functional Plant Biology). “Every day that I spent copyediting made me more certain that science editing ticked so many boxes. When they advertised for a full-time Associate Editor, I applied straight away, and knew I would be devastated if I didn’t get the job. I put everything I had into that interview, and was fortunate enough to be selected. As I had only just finished the experimental work for my PhD, I knew that taking this job meant that I would be writing up my thesis on evenings and weekends for who knows how long, but it was worth it. It took me nine months of writing up outside my full-time job, but I submitted my thesis in 2000, and still believe I have the best job in the world.” Jennifer was promoted to Managing Editor of Functional Plant Biology two years later, and credits much of her career success to the foundations she received as an undergraduate. “My ag degree taught me a bit of everything, and how the various aspects of agriculture fit together, so I feel I can now look at a system with many complex components and still hang onto the overall picture while studying the functionality of each aspect.”

Michael and Stephen Commadeur
Bachelors of Agriculture (Economics)
Investment Analysts

Michael and Stephen are twin brothers who grew up near Shepparton and found that they shared a passion for big business.
‘We come from a dairy farming background,’ Michael explains. ‘It was natural for us both to go into an agriculture related field when we came to university.’
The brothers now work as investment analysts, for different finance companies, having successfully moved from their courses in agricultural economics to the world of high finance.
‘These days we don’t have to get up before sunrise to milk the cows!’ Stephen laughs.

Will Gordon
Bachelor of Agriculture (2001), Master of Agribusiness (2006)
Industrail Relations Advisor, AWB

I grew up on a farm near Birregurra, inland from Lorne, and have always had an interest in primary industries, so I studied agriculture when I left secondary school.
After finishing my undergraduate degree, I took a couple of years off study before  returning to do my Masters degree.  In my postgraduate work, I focused on the business side of things in farm and agribusiness management.  Things like succession planning and business strategy, working on financial planning and whole farm planning - which looks at a holistic, coordinated  business strategy for a farm.  I see this as an increasingly important area for agribusiness as the farming population ages, and the cost price squeeze increases the competitive nature of the industry and reduces the number of farms.
I now work for the AWB as an advisor in industry relations and the last few months have certainly been an interesting time for us.  I liaise with growers, grower bodies and the state and federal government to look after the interests of our growers.

Jake Bromwich
Bachelor of Agricultural Science/ Bachelor of Commerce
Assistant Manager in Rural and Regional banking, ANZ Darwin
I am working as an Assistant Manager in Rural and Regional banking for ANZ in Darwin. This includes traveling to different areas and within the division there is scope to work anywhere in Australia and Asia. Part of the job involves being mobile and able to relocate to different areas of Australia.
My honors thesis was conducted overseas at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. It was titled "The Canadian Dairy industry under a Doha agreement". This involved researching Policy in the World dairy industry and how the future World Trade Agreements will impact the Canadian dairy industry.
n my studies I specialised in Agricultural economics and international trade. Looking largely at the effects of different trade agreements and public policy on the agricultural industry.

Kate Webb
Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Honours)
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forests, Canberra

I grew up on a farm between Seymour and Yay where we had sheep and cattle.   I’ve always been involved in agriculture and now my two younger brothers are studying with Land and Food resources as well.
During my undergraduate program I did an industrial project on dairy cattle during which I spent six weeks at Kasarat University in Thailand.  After finishing my general bachelor degree in animal science and management, I moved on to do a research year where I worked with sheep  - specifically investigating prenatal programming in merinos.
I now work in Canberra for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forests dealing with international trade.

Emily Creese
Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Honours)
I started my studies doing a double degree in Arts and Science, but after a year decided I’d like to focus my studies more because I was enjoying the science angle so much.  My brother had studied Agricultural science, so I transferred into that course at Melbourne and really enjoyed it.
After finishing my general agricultural science degree, I did a year of research in the Honours program where I studied disease diagnostics in the processing of tomatoes.  Now that I’ve graduated, I’m heading overseas to travel around Europe before visiting Uganda where I’ll be checking out agricultural development projects.

Careers in the Farming and Agriculture sector:

Courses in Farming and Agriculture:

Undergraduate (view all)

Graduate Coursework (view all)

Graduate Research (view all)

Further information on courses or study can be obtained by telephoning the University of Melbourne on (03) 8344 0276 or 1800 815 803 or email courses@landfood.unimelb.edu.au

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