The Minns Labor Government is helping futureproof the State’s farming industry and support regional economies by extending a program focused on upskilling the State’s agricultural workforce.

AgSkilled is an industry-led training program designed to upskill and better prepare the agricultural workforce for fast-moving changes driven by innovation, research, and technology.

In the past year, the program delivered 601 courses across 145 locations in NSW, with 2,536 participants. An impressive 95% of these participants completed their courses, showcasing the program's effectiveness and popularity.

With the extension of AgSkilled, the program aims to:

• Attract, develop and retain a productive agricultural workforce.
• Support career progression, entry pathways, and employment outcomes in agriculture.
• Increase agricultural farm efficiency, productivity, and profitability.
• Develop industry capacity to adopt new technologies and sustainable farming practices.
• Leverage research and development to ensure training is relevant, current, and meets industry needs.

Popular and priority courses, based on industry feedback, include honeybee biosecurity, chemical risk management, biosecurity training for managers/supervisors and farm workers/employees, farm business planning and operating and managing remote pilot aircraft systems.

AgSkilled is delivered by Training Services NSW in partnership with industry associations, the NSW Department of Primary Industries, and the Agriculture, Food, and Animal Management Industry Training Advisory Body (ITAB).

This collaboration ensures the program is designed to meet the evolving needs of the agricultural sector.

More information on AgSkilled 3.0 and how to participate in the training programs, can be found HERE.

Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty said:

“The NSW Government is supporting a resilient and innovative agricultural sector.

“It’s great to have programs like AgSkilled to further assist agricultural workers to stay up-to-date with research and developments, new technologies and help increase agricultural farm productivity.”

Minister for Skills, TAFE, and Tertiary Education Steve Whan said:

"This $5 million extension of AgSkilled reflects our strong commitment to supporting and advancing the agricultural sector in NSW.

“By investing in the skills and training of our workforce, we are ensuring that our farmers and agricultural workers are well-prepared to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future.

"AgSkilled is not just about training; it's about building a resilient, innovative, and highly skilled workforce that can drive productivity and sustainability in our agricultural industries.”