How does someone who spent their childhood in the middle of Geelong City in Victoria end up, not just working in agriculture, but literally getting her hands dirty at some of the country's most remote cattle stations?!
Zoe Carter is using her incredible story to encourage others to do the same. She is a valuable advocate for life on the land, highlighting both the romantic moments of county life but also the truth. To help others make the leap into agriculture a little easier, she's the driving force behind online platforms Young Aussie Farmers , and more recently, Agriculture Jobs Auswide .
The idea is to help people just like herself. As a student, she loved animals but was discouraged from a career in agriculture by a career advisor.
"She said to me, agriculture's for old blokes, and there's not much money in it."
Zoe found a middle ground in the horse industry, but a shocking accident soon put an end to that too.
"I had a horse flip over on top of me, shattered my pelvis, broke my spine, had some minor brain issues, and got a lot of PTSD out of that," she shares. It was a devastating blow for someone, who at 17, found out she had hip dysplasia. Despite many surgeries, Zoe still suffers chronic pain.
Incredibly, she regained her confidence, and ventured out to a merino stud, where she met a life changing mentor.
"He was an older fella, and it did take me a bit to kind of crack through that shell. I used to ask him a lot of questions. At the start, he kind of hated that but by the end, he'd pull me aside and point things out and wanted to educate me."
"It was just finding that one person who was keen to educate me, teach me, and send me on my way."
That opened up a new world to Zoe, who went on to secure yard work, rousting, driving trucks, being an outback ringer and livestock handler. All physical jobs, that have taken a toll on her already fragile body.
"I have the drive to want to do it, but my body just can't keep up with me."
Instead, she's now funneling her energy into helping others find their way in the industry, launching Agriculture Jobs Auswide.
"It's a job board essentially that covers any role that falls under the ginormous umbrella of 'agriculture'," she explains.
"There's a lack of knowledge about where to find these jobs."
Zoe argues that there's not a lack of workers wanting to get into the industry, it's that they don't know where to look for work. The types of jobs she's seeing are diverse, from being a governess, to cooking and then all the outdoor jobs that one would expect. Some require experience, other farmers are happy to take novices and offer training.
But she stresses that you need to start at the bottom and work your way up.
"If we want to see skilled workers over the next 5 to 10 years, we need to start training them now."
Zoe would love to grow her business to become a one-stop shop for people looking for work, and people looking for workers. Ultimately, she's hoping to buy land to offer in-person courses like cattle handling. And if you do see Zoe in a teaching role, it couldn't be further from the image her career advisor painted of old blokes running the industry.
Zoe is a young, capable and dynamic woman, hoping to shape the next generation of agriculture workers.
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