Skill up to step up
Liz Ford, Agri-Workforce Officer Southern Queensland
When talking to job seekers about farm work, picking and packing roles are often the first that come to mind. However, once all that fresh produce is harvested, it must be transported off-farm and those are important jobs too.
Vital to these transportation roles are semi-skilled workers who a trained and qualified to operate forklifts and drive trucks, and it’s here that Queensland growers are reporting difficulty in finding ticketed, reliable staff to keep their farms running smoothly.
As the Queensland Agriculture Workforce Network (QAWN) officer for Southern Queensland, it’s my job to understand farm workforce needs and provide pathways and opportunities for agricultural employers and employees to come together.
Having recently surveyed growers across the Lockyer Valley, 70 per cent of respondents said finding workers who were a step-up from those entry level harvesting roles, was posing a real challenge. Half of the responding growers described the impact on their business as “significant.”
Such impacts include delays in getting produce to sister farms or the Brisbane Markets, extra strain on existing staff, and unnecessary costs that undercut growers’ bottom lines.
To address this workforce challenge, QAWN, in conjunction with local registered training organisation Western Trainers, is rolling out the Skilled to Drive initiative for the Lockyer Valley region.
With the support of SmartAg Queensland funding, 10 workers will receive subsidised training to obtain their forklift ticket and truck driving licence, as well as workplace safety training and on-farm work experience.
The initiative will build a pipeline of skilled local workers to ensure farms have a growing pool of semi-skilled staff to draw from. Skilled to Drive is also designed to empower job seekers in the community, giving them the skills, qualifications, and confidence to step into stable, rewarding work in horticulture.
We’ve developed Skilled to Drive to respond to both grower and community need. As we roll the program out, we’ll continue to listen to growers and participants to ensure we’re delivering the skills and training the sector needs.
I’ll be taking expressions of interest in Skilled to Drive from January 2026, with the training due to kick-off in February.
But if there’s someone on your staff who’s ready to take that next step, please pick up the phone or drop me an email to find out more – 0499 833 868 or lford@qfvg.com.au
The Queensland Agriculture Workforce Network (QAWN) is funded by the Queensland Government.
