They are saying ThOn There is a job in agriculture For everyone, Regardless of your background or the place your expertise set is, and Shannen Barrett Is An best event of that.

These days Ms Barrett works at Australian cereal breeding agency InterGrain As a Outcome of the communications supervisor, by no meanstheless her path to the position, and her profession, was not simple.

Having been raised in Gperiodldton and with mom and father who acquired here from and labored Inside the farming world, she grew up round agriculture however was by no means actually An factor of it till later in life.

Ms Barrett went to Curtin College and initially started studying environmental biology earlier than altering majors to geography, with the intention of turning Proper into a Highschool science and geography teveryer.

However after spfinishing A the placeas volunteering with Highschool college students, she shortly realised teverying Wouldn’t be the profession for her.

“Rising up I On A daily basis had a fascination with agriculture – my mother or father’s househprevious have been On A daily basis related to farming Indirectly,” Ms Barrett said.

“I assume It is On A daily basis been in my blood And that i have On A daily basis had an curiosity in agriculture, meals safety and sustainability.

“While at uni I On A daily basis found A method to weave meals safety Proper into any task I did, so I On A daily basis tried to have an ag focus and it was On A daily basis Behind my thoughts.”

While she was studying at university, Ms Barrett labored casually for A pair Of numerous agriculture evaluation corporations, collectively with Eurofins and Dwelling Farm.

She was In a place to Get entangled with the evaluation and enchancment facet of the grains enterprise, primarily all by way of seeding and harvest, But in addition with completely different parts Similar to spraying trials and assessments Through the yr.

It was the placeas she was at Dwelling Farm that a colleague raised a job alternative Together with her Which might set her on The path to her current place.

That job was as a junior covperiodge officer with WAFarmers and was Ms Barrett’s first full-time position Infacet the agriculture enterprise.

“I had been assumeing I needed To enter some Sort of prefacetncy or covperiodge position and thought It Might be An excellent place To start out,” she said.

“I used to be the junior covperiodge officer for All of the chief officers, so I acquired a glimpse into grains, livestock, dairy and even bees and it gave me An excellent overview of The factors On the earth of agriculture.”

After A few yr Inside the covperiodge job An alternative arose for Ms Barrett to take a facet-step and transfer into A process as a media and communications officer.

She was in that position for almost two yrs and in That time realised that agricultural advertising and communications was the place her moveion lies.

“I Did not have any expertise in media or comms On the time, however I expressed that I felt I had A great really feel of The agency and The factors They typinamey gave me a shot which I am so grateful for,” Ms Barrett said.

“I noticed that if I took the media and communications position, I could put myself down a advertising pathmethod and I really feel my character matches that.”

After WAFarmers, Ms Barrett transferd on to work as a communications officer for WeedSmart and the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative (AHRI), based mostly at The College of Western Australia (UWA).

“I hadn’t seen many communication positions within agriculture come up, so I knew I Desired to leap On The prospect,” she said.

“WeedSmart is a nationwide weed extension platform and we had extension agronomists in every area, so I acquired to know a bit extra about completely different ag spaces Throughout the nation, pretty Than merely WA.

“It was A lot of nice and taught me A lot Of latest strategies of talking that I hadn’t expertised at WAFarmers.”

After 18 months at AHRI and WeedSmart, Ms Barrett was approached with A particular alternative and the placeas she wasn’t In a place to go amethod UWA, the potential was simply too good to move up.

Late final yr, she started with InterGrain as a territory supervisor for the northern Wheatbelt of WA, A process which noticed her Responsible for advertising of the InterGrain mannequin, merchandise and execution of wheat, barley and oat market enchancment actions.

“It appeared like an fascinating alternative To understand expertise in A particular advertising space,” Ms Barrett said.

“I might On A daily basis carried out on-line communications, however I might by no means carried out face-to-face advertising, so I assumed it was A great probability to broaden my expertises.”

Typinamey factors simply work out Precisely the biggest method they have been Alleged to and after simply 4 months Inside the territory supervisor position, a reshuffle of the advertising dehalfment noticed A mannequin new place Of promoting supervisor Discover your self to be out there.

InterGrain is An group agencyly focused on promoting from within, so the position was provided to Ms Barrett And she or he grabbed it with each palms.

“I Did not really feel like I used to be In a place to maneuver on from territory supervisor as I hadn’t had the probability to sink my tooth in but, However it was such An excellent alternative within such An excellent agency, so I Might not say no,” she said.

“It currentd me with the probability to be involved Inside the advertising and communications method from starting To finish, and When it Includes my profession development it was The Most relevant selection.

“It’s terribly quick-paced And actually difficult, however in A sensible method and I do not assume I am going to develop out of this position any time quickly, if somefactor, I really feel the position will develop with me.”

With her dream job secured in An group That is forward-assumeing, youthful and agile, Ms Barrett is extra acutely conscious than ever thOn there are A lot of misconceptions surrounding agriculture and farming.

She has found the people Inside the enterprise very welcoming And wants people to know You Do not Want to return from a farm to work within agriculture.

Ms Barrett said people Did not understand the sheer quantity of jobs at Each level Inside The current chain that have been out there.

“It is so important to get the message On the market, notably to youthfulsters in Highschool, that It Does not matter what you do at university, or Do you have to don’t go to uni In any respect, There is a job in ag for you,” she said.

“For these People that do like English and writing, It could nonetheless be utilized in agriculture and There are So many advertising and communications positions For every agency, particularly with the rise in significance of social media.”

“Inside InterGrain alone We now have positions in chemistry, breeding, finance, statistics, advertising and area opperiodtions, simply To name a few, so ag Is Amongst The numerous Most nice industries to be An factor of Because It is so various And also you Encounter all types of fascinating people.”

In the space Of 5 yrs, Ms Barrett has superior from a communications officer with no advertising expertise or background to the communications supervisor of a nationwide cereal breeding agency.

It is one factor that she is extremely Joyful with, But in addition one factor she admits Wouldn’t have been potential with out constructing a supportive community.

“An monumental half of agriculture is who You understand, It is all about getting your foot Inside the door and my suggestion is to Get entangled – We now have so many conferences, workshops and events That are A good Method To fulfill people and get a foot Inside the door,” Ms Barrett said.

“For youthful people simply starting out in agriculture, getting involved in A gaggle like AgConnectWA Is An environment nice Method to make communitys and I can truthfully say I might Have not been so worthwhile in my final three positions with out the connections I made by way of that group.”

Imhalfing her information on to The subsequent period is one factor Ms Barrett has additionally Discover your self to be extremely moveionate about.

She recently started as An envoy with the Dehalfment of Primary Industry and Regional Development and the Dehalfment of Education’s PRIMED program.

“It is a cohort of youthful people in agriculture who attfinish school profession expos To converse to college students Regarding the profession alternatives in agriculture,” Ms Barrett said.

“I am excited to get On the market and put a face to the enterprise Which will be a bit cooler and brisker than the previous rhetoric of an previous man sitting in a tractor with A bit of straw hanging out his mouth.”