Food and Fibre Great South Coast acknowledges that our region is on the traditional lands, waterways and skies of the Peek Whurrong, Kirrae Whurrung, Gunditjmara, Eastern Maar Nations, Jardwadjali, Boandik, Djab Wurrun and Buandig people.
We recognise the important ongoing role that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have in our community and pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging.
By Will Winter-Cooke, Assistant Agribusiness Manager, Hamilton
When I moved home from Sydney in 2018 my intention was to help build fences on our family farm. I’d been working in accounts in Sydney but wanted to move away from the rat race to a more relaxed career path.
I wasn’t home too long and an agribusiness banking job opened up in Hamilton, which I was fortunate to achieve. I love my job here, it gives me an opportunity to be involved in agriculture but in an off-farm setting.
I live in Tahara, west of Hamilton, and am actively involved in my family’s sheep and cattle farm. But it is seeing my agribusiness clients succeed, and being part of their journey, which is one of the most satisfying parts of my involvement with agriculture. It’s extremely rewarding to gain the initial understanding of a client’s business, then help them action long term strategic decisions that aim to better their family, business and community. This job also allows me to understand farming and business, why decisions are made at certain times of the year and the potential benefits and risks that steer farm managers to take a particular course of action. Working in agribusiness banking, you’re part of those discussions and it’s your job to understand. Also you learn so much about the industry through being involved with a number of different enterprises.
A career in agriculture can offer incredible benefits; there’s huge lifestyle perks and enormous job satisfaction. The big lifestyle perk is the ability to work in regional Australia and escape the pressures of housing affordability, traffic and other cost of living pressures in our capital cities. There’s a café and dining culture here now and I am just a short drive from the beach or great national parks. It’s a great place to live and work.
