Lucy Morrissey from Morrissey and Friends Livestock Services.

A LIVESTOCK handling specialist says teaching high school students the basics of working cattle could help provide a more sustainable workforce for the industry.

Lucy Morrissey from Morrissey and Friends Livestock Services has set up a pilot workshop to teach teenagers about the psychology of cattle and how to handle them safely and productively in the working environment.

Ms Morrissey said she was hoping high schools would adopt similar workshops to show students the potential of a career in the cattle industry. The clinic would also provide them with a certificate to show potential employers,

“As an industry we need to set our entry level team members up for success, even when they have limited experience,” she said.

“We also know as an industry that we need to draw more people in from diverse backgrounds, we have labour shortages and we need to promote the opportunities we have for a career. So, I think a workshop like this will do more than just give you the opportunity to up skill in safe stockmanship.”

Morrissey and Friends primarily works with business that have a high throughput of cattle and good opportunity for new entrants– like saleyards and feedlots.

“Supporting those people is super important, because we need to retain them in the industry and keep them performing,” she said.

“We probably have more access to staff in the northern parts of the country simply because extensive pastoral industry really draws people in. Whereas facilities like feedlots of saleyards, the work is more repetitive and we do struggle to get staff.

“So, the standard of stockmanship requires maintaining. There is great potential to learn, and also for a long term career opportunities regardless of where in the supply chain people choose to start.”

Schools showing interest

Ms Morrissey said she had been in contact with schools to see if they would be interested in running similar courses to what is taking place at the end of this month.

“I have spoken to a couple of heads of various schools across the state who are really excited by the idea and are essentially talking about how we facilitate that in their own community which is really positive,” she said.

“I think often the most prominent options are RTO training, which there’s absolutely a place for but when it comes to the hands-on practical stock handling side of things there’s limited opportunity. So we’re setting the scene for what it could look like to give a really holistic training and educational opportunity to youth.

“There’s certainly a need for it and the challenge is getting the concept out in front of the right audience and the promotional side of it. I’m hoping that this first workshop that we facilitate will spread through the region certainly in Queensland and into the hands of schools, but even potentially through that educational department.

“My ambition is that we were able to facilitate several of these through several states in the country with the right support from community and from hosts and from industry too. To flag how important this is for the future sustainability of the livestock industry.”

• The pilot program is scheduled for September 27 at Goondiwindi. Contact morrisseyandfriends@gmail.com for more details