The NSW Government has approved a $5 million extension to AgSkilled, a program focused on upskilling the State’s agricultural workforce.
AgSkilled is an industry-led training program designed to upskill and better prepare the agricultural workforce for fast-moving changes driven by innovation, research, and technology.
Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty said this investment shows the NSW government is supporting a resilient and innovative agricultural sector.
“It’s great to have programs like AgSkilled to further assist agricultural workers to stay up-to-date with research and developments, new technologies and help increase agricultural farm productivity,” said Moriarty.
In the past year, the program delivered 601 courses across 145 locations in NSW, with 2,536 participants.
95 per cent of these participants completed their courses, showcasing the program’s effectiveness and popularity.
With the extension of AgSkilled, the program aims to:
- Attract, develop and retain a productive agricultural workforce.
- Support career progression, entry pathways, and employment outcomes in agriculture.
- Increase agricultural farm efficiency, productivity, and profitability.
- Develop industry capacity to adopt new technologies and sustainable farming practices.
- Leverage research and development to ensure training is relevant, current, and meets industry needs.
Popular and priority courses, based on industry feedback, include honeybee biosecurity, chemical risk management, biosecurity training for managers/supervisors and farm workers/employees, farm business planning and operating and managing remote pilot aircraft systems.
AgSkilled is delivered by Training Services NSW in partnership with industry associations, the NSW Department of Primary Industries, and the Agriculture, Food, and Animal Management Industry Training Advisory Body (ITAB).
This collaboration ensures the program is designed to meet the evolving needs of the agricultural sector.