MFS Agricultural Traineeships Program
Craig Mitchell (MFS foundation member) initiated the traineeships in 2012 due to the growing concern of retaining and attracting young local youth to choose a career in the agricultural industry as well as the increasing age of the average farmer.
Craig wanted to “give young people the opportunity to gain skills and get an understanding of a broad view of successful management practices across the Monaro”.
The trainee is “shared” across a group of 8-9 host farmers and spends the year learning, not only the practical side of farming like fencing, stock handling, worm control, machinery use, pasture improvement, cropping, budgeting, etc. but also the diversity of farming practices across the Monaro and the various motivations and business success strategies.
The traineeship also includes a formal qualification ie. Certificate III or IV in Agriculture. From 2017, the traineeship now includes four (4) weeks of fully paid training of which three (3) weeks is spent completing the Hay Inc certificate.
MFS believes by investing in this initiative, it will provide an invaluable gap year between School and Work, Ag College or University as well as promoting the profile of agriculture as an attractive, prosperous and long-term career option for young people.
Applications for the 2018 Traineeship Open Now
If you are interested in applying for the traineeship for 2018 please access the Application and/or Expression of Intrest (EOI) form via the link below.
Testimonials from 2017 trainee
Georgie Constance, 18 years, Cooma – “Farming has been my passion since I can remember. While I’m intrested in working in the fields of AI embryo transfer and reproduction, in the long term I aim to follow in my father’s and grandfather’s footsteps and eventually take over the family farm.”