AS a self-confessed city kid, Charlie Watson never saw agriculture as a long-term pathway, but after only four years in the industry full-time, he has already made it to farm manager at a property at Burracoppin.
While he was originally from a farm in southern New South Wales, Mr Watson moved to Adelaide when he was three where he completed all of his schooling.
He had some exposure to agriculture with his dad still managing mixed farms back in NSW while he was in school, but at the time it wasn't seen at a future career choice.
"I was always interested in agriculture but I never really saw it as a career pathway while I was at school, which is definitely something that is an ongoing challenge for the sector," Mr Watson said.
"It's not always perceived as a professional path for people and it's not always seen as having long-term prospects.
"It was definitely a similar situation for me and I never really saw it as an option - I always thought it would be nice to be involved, but didn't think of it as being a potential career."
After graduating from high school Mr Watson opted for a gap year to save money and started working on a couple of mixed-farming properties, as well as a sheep station and a vineyard.
In between all of that he did the usual retail and hospitality work, but kept going back to agricultural work and enjoyed it more each time.
Mr Watson ended up taking a second gap year to travel overseas and while he was away he realised that agriculture was something he kept being drawn back to.
He investigated his tertiary education options and enrolled in Agriculture and Business degrees at the University of New England.
Upon completion Mr Watson secured a position within Warakirri Cropping's graduate program and has been with the farming corporation since early 2017.
"The graduate program was a two-year rotation through two farm placements and one corporate placement, so I spent 12 months in regional Victoria on a farm, three months in head office in Melbourne and then spent the balance of the two years in WA," Mr Watson said.
"The key objective of the graduate program is to attract young people who are interested in agriculture, but also to give us a good mix of experience across the different farms and different regions."
After finishing the graduate program, Mr Watson was offered a permanent role on the same property in WA, at Burracoppin, so he stayed there for 18 months and then, in the middle of last year, was offered the opportunity to take on the farm manager role.
"I had been there in a permanent role for 18 months and in the grad program for nine months before that, so for me it was really good to take the opportunity to develop myself and take on more responsibility," he said.
"I already knew the farm and I was embedded in the team, they weren't a whole lot of unknowns, but my role changed a lot to having more of a people focus, as well as more emphasis on long-term strategy and planning."
When assessing future plans, in the short-term Mr Watson wants to focus on his current role - the budget for this year has been set, so his main aim is to make sure that is executed effectively.
However looking into the future, his plan is to get more involved in the wider agriculture industry, whether that be through industry groups, communities, or at the board level.
Eventually Mr Watson wants to shift from more of a production focus, which is what he does now, to an operational and strategy focus.
"I'm really passionate about Australian agriculture in a broad sense, it's a really interesting sector with so many facets involved and it has a lot to offer," Mr Watson said.
"There is something really rewarding about producing food and fibre - no matter where you are on the supply chain, it's something that's tangible and by being involved in agriculture, you're involved in something that is bigger than yourself.
"It's a really dynamic industry, there's a lot of good people involved and it's got a really bright future."
Between 2017 and 2019, while also working full-time, Mr Watson also completed a Master of Economics, part-time and by distance, which included a study on social license in the context of Australian agriculture.
The study involved diving into the concept of social license to gain an understanding of how the concept has been defined and applied in different industries and exploring the economic implications of losing a 'social license' or not meeting community expectations.
It also involved conducting a survey of people within the agriculture sector which focussed on broader community expectations, the respondents' thoughts on industry group representation, and the attitudes of those within sector towards outside pressures.
"I am passionate about the ag sector and I believe that as an industry, it is our responsibility to demonstrate and effectively communicate to stakeholders our competency and expertise in producing food and fibre in a safe and sustainable manner," Mr Watson said.
"We have seen in recent times that when community expectations are not met, government policy can change quickly.
"We need to be proactive and adaptive to ensure we are not a passenger to change."
Mr Watson believes that part of that proactivity is showing people that agriculture is a professional industry with a plethora of opportunities outside the standard farm level production.
"As much as it's the responsibility of individuals to understand the industry and what they want to do with their careers, it's also the responsibility of the industry itself to attract people and to make sure it's catching people as they come out of school and university," he said.
"Hopefully more education of the potential careers within agriculture at the school and tertiary level could help with that.
"But we need to show people that if they have a positive attitude, want to learn and are keen on challenging themselves, then there is a place in ag for everyone."
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April 12, 2021 at 06:00AM
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