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Farmers see surge in job applications from cities
Elizabeth Gracie
A rise in unemployment rates stemming from the COVID 19 pandemic has resulted in an increased number of newly-unemployed city workers looking for jobs on regional farms across the country.
Northern Territory Farmers Association Chief Executive Paul Burke said that “In the first few days after the shutdown of hospitality and much of retail, we received over 122 enquiries for work and these came from a cross section of all the community.”
He further noted that, “we do think our industry does have an opportunity to be able to provide a glimmer of hope for some of those people who have lost their jobs”, however this too has its own hurdles that must be overcome.
Burke notes that the fruit and vegetable industry needs to overcome obstacles around accommodation and transport in relation to social distancing, and develop clear guidelines around COVID-19 as a matter of priority before new workers arrive.
The additional quarantine measures being enforced by the NT government will also serve to protect vulnerable regional communities and protect Australia's agricultural sector.
The Territory Government has also launched a website to match job seekers in the Northern Territory with employment opportunities in the agricultural sector. Burke believes the other states would be wise to follow.
The many Australians that are looking to secure employment are also doing so at the expense of the backpackers and seasonal international workers who usually fill those positions. This also brings in the ethical considerations of farmers to support international workers who are not eligible for emergency income payments or support local workers who are in the throes of unemployment.
Trevor Whittington, CEO of WA Farmers Association said that for job applicants there was a clear lack of seasonality or skill sets needed for agricultural work. In Western Australia alone there are “less than 30,000 full time jobs in agriculture, many of them skilled and semi skilled to support the broadacre grains and livestock acres”.
“Overall while there is a growing pool of Australians and backpackers seeking work the reality is there are limited jobs and most of the Australian unemployed won't be interested in the short term and itinerant nature of fruit picking in remote communities like Carnarvon and Kununurra”, says Whittington.
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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