Like many ag sectors, the face of Australia’s broadacre industry is changing – and so to are broadacre recruitment strategies. As farming operations grow and become more complex, it’s never been more crucial to build the right team.
Twenty-five years ago, the skills required to succeed in broadacre farming were primarily physical and mechanical. Tractors were reparable and implements didn’t come with a software package. The modern broadacre farming operation, however, is a very different business – requiring a different set of skills, and therefore a very different approach.
Digital first skill-sets
Today, most modern businesses are run digitally, and broadacre farms are no exception. That’s why modern broadacre recruitment has a high focus focus on digital proficiency – with the explosion of IoT sensors and a new AgTech offering being rolled out every week, the ability to understand and integrate multiple disparate technologies is a major boon for businesses.
Cloud-based farm management software has become the norm across the industry, but to get the most out of these systems, people in key positions need to have the ability to operate the systems effectively and collect the right information. Leaders within the business then require the skills and aptitude to analyse the information and produce reports in order to guide progress and make effective business decisions. Without these key processes, broadacre farms can’t reap the benefits of the advancement in technology.
Understanding and being able to operate the systems is foundational, but it’s just as important to connect and troubleshoot technology. At AgriTalent, we’ve found that businesses all over the country have hardware and software that’s broken or underutilised because the operators lack the understanding of how the technology works and how to fix it.
Finally, there can’t be a conversation about technology in 2025 without discussing the application of AI. The explosion of artificial intelligence, large language models and machine learning has been nothing short of remarkable, and the speed with which the technology’s been adopted is proof of its ability to enhance the productivity and profitability of people. For broadacre farms to integrate this technology into their systems, talent must have the ability and knowledge to utilise the tools – and it’s essential they are indeed utilised, in order to avoid being left behind by the competition.
Compliance and broadacre recruitment
Throughout Australian agriculture, increasing legislation and market requirements are forcing businesses across the country into ever more onerous compliance requirements. Employees who understand a business’s requirements and can implement processes to meet them are subsequently in high demand, and the ability for a business to effectively maintain compliance in an ever-changing legislative landscape is something leaders must actively seek out and cultivate. Candidates with a good grasp of compliance requirements and processes can find vastly more employment opportunities than those without.
Sustainability in Australian agriculture
As consumers around the world become more aware of the sustainability of the products they consume, they place higher pressure on the businesses they purchase from. This means businesses are now taking greater responsibility for improving the sustainability of their supply chains, resulting in increased pressure on suppliers to prove their environmental credentials – a trend to which broadacre farmers are not immune.
Modern consumers want to know about on-farm regenerative practices, input use efficiency, water use efficiency and emission reduction strategies. The responsibility for answering these questions is falling in the hands of growers, in the form of strategies, plans and documentation. When it comes to broadacre recruitment, the impact of this is clear – employers need to hire candidates with the skills to efficiently plan and deliver this documentation within the business.
Data-driven decision-making
In an increasingly digital world, efficient businesses are now run on dashboards, and having the ability to plan, develop and implement these dashboards is critical.
Data and analytics was once only needed in tech and Big 4 consulting firms, but as farming businesses become more complex, the requirements for data-driven decisions become more important. Building an efficient data collection and utilisation system within the farming business does not require a dedicated data analyst, but it does require some level of skill collecting, cleaning and presenting information, and it’s essential that these are either fostered or recruited into the broadacre business.
Risk management and broadacre recruitment
Risk for broadacre farming operations takes many forms, and can include variability, financial risk management, cyber security, supply-chain resilience planning and market volatility, not to mention on-farm health and safety.
On-farm risk management requirements are becoming increasingly important. Development of risk-mitigation strategies and planning is not only beneficial from a business resilience perspective, but also from a litigation perspective. Farms are coming under increasing scrutiny to improve on-farm safety, and broadacre farms without clearly articulated farm safety and risk-mitigation plans run the risk of legal challenges, should a crisis occur. Developing documentation and a healthy risk-avoidance culture on farm is now crucial, and when it comes to broadacre recruitment, candidates with these skills will be highly valued.
So what does this mean for broadacre farms of the future?
By far the biggest shift in talent requirements over the past 25 years is the move from primarily physical and mechanical skills to a hybrid role that requires digital literacy, analytical thinking and business acumen while still maintaining practical farming knowledge.
This is a challenge, but one that’s most easily solved by young people. – younger, digital-native people are becoming an increasingly important part of successful businesses. Whilst young people have not traditionally been drawn to broadacre farming, this means that broadacre recruitment must now, in some way, attract young people into the business. To do this, we recommend businesses think about how they foster talented people, attract them to the business and then retain them over the long term.
By being truly thoughtful about the skills and talents being brought into the business – and giving particular thought to the industry of the future – growers can achieve significant unlocks in business value and profitability.
