| An overwhelmingly positive attitude towards the sheep and wool industry has emerged from a Leading Sheep Central West committee survey of young people in the industry, with more than 80 percent of those surveyed saying it was great to live in small towns and communities.
Department of Primary Industries extension officer Ian McConnel said the survey was developed by a Central West youth committee to discover the thoughts of young people and gather information on how to increase the vitality of the sheep and wool industry.
The survey was aimed at people aged 16-30 years, with the results being analysed by the youth committee to give a strong outline of the thoughts of young people on the sheep and wool industry’s future.
“The survey found a lot of positive things about working in the sheep industry including good job satisfaction, the fact a whole family can work together, job flexibility and the wide array of skill utilisation,” Mr McConnel said.
Although there were many positives, the results show some strong trends on how the industry may be improved with the strongest of those being marketing.
“Marketing the industry’s positive image – both from a product point of view and to encourage people to work in the industry – was seen as a very important point.”
“There was a strong desire that more product marketing be seen by industry, rather than just the customers, to create pride and an understanding that marketing work is being done by Australian Wool Innovation.”
“Youth respondents believe such marketing would help to arrest the negative image towards the industry and help encourage more young people into it – which was seen as a major way of reinvigorating the industry.”
Certification of skills which sheep property workers have was another suggestion, much like other apprenticeships.
“As it stands now, a kid in the bush is a plumber, welder, mechanic, carpenter, but hasn't got a piece of paper to prove any of it. A focus on more official on-farm training would be a positive move, to improve post-farm employment opportunities.”
A majority of those surveyed believe they would still be working in the industry in five years, and it was widely regarded by those reviewing the survey that a lot of problems will be sorted out ‘when it rains’.
Leading Sheep is an innovative, regionally-based project working to boost the profitability of the Queensland sheep and wool industry. The project was initiated by Australian Wool Innovation and operates in partnership with the DPI&F and AgForce.
For more information, contact DPI&F extension officer Ian McConnel on 4658 4425, or Leading Sheep youth committee members Ben Banks 07 4657 5960, Emma Hegarty 07 4658 9163, James Patterson-Kane 0428 320 985 | 
