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Cattle Station Manager - Ben Forsyth
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A career in any form of agriculture can be one full of fulfilment and reward, says Ben Forsyth, who at 30 manages a cattle station.
''The nature of living and working on the land leads to a lifetime of pranks, jokes and hilarious moments with your workmates and family,'' he said. ''While there are plenty of serious issues, life on the land does tend to be quite light-hearted most of the time.''
Ben is the production manager for Beefwood Pastoral Company, his family''s company. In conjunction with his parents and two older brothers, Ben produces and markets chemical residue-free beef. ''My role is to monitor the flow of the livestock from conception to the abattoir,'' he said. ''I am also the station manager at one of our stations, Three Rivers, which involves maintaining the watering points for the livestock and running the seasonal muster.
''It could be argued I have worked in this field all of my life as I was born to the station! I left school after Year 12 in 1991 and apart from a nine-month period away I have been involved in various aspects of our family operations since then.
''I think most people who are born to or spend their early years on the land generally are drawn to working in that same field.
''For me I was fortunate enough to have a family operation that could accommodate three boys, as being the youngest I would probably have been the first to find other employment.
''I feel that had there not been that opportunity I would have still pursued a rural career although I would have probably mixed it up a bit with some work experience in other fields and probably would have gone on to do some tertiary education in agriculture.
From 1991 to 1994 Ben did general duties on Three Rivers and company farms around Eneabba and then became manager at Three Rivers for a year. For four years to 1999 Ben was head stockman at Three Rivers during mustering period, which is generally three months of the year. At this time he was also production manager at Beefwood.
During a year off in 2000, Ben was a lift attendant at Mount Hotham Victoria for four months and was a contract windrower/swather operator throughout southwest New South Wales and northern and western Victoria for a couple of months. The balance of the year he was back at home doing various roles within Beefwood or holidaying in the East.
From 2001 to now Ben has been production manager at Beefwood and manager at Three Rivers for the past year.
''It was a proud moment when I first took over the management of Three Rivers as I was still only 20 and up until then I had been in the shadow a bit of two older brothers. It helped me mature and take responsibility for my actions rapidly.''
The favourite part of Ben''s job is working with the cattle during mustering and drafting lines of stock together throughout the year.
''Having a strong tie to the country that I grew up on I can also spend time there while working. I gain a lot of satisfaction knowing that my actions are feeding people good food.
''The drawback is that living in an isolated environment you can often miss out on the social side of things. I lost count of how many of my mates'' 21st birthdays I missed as I was at Three Rivers. At the same time though, when you do catch up you tend to make the most of it!
''It can be tough during drought years having to deal with the pressure of dying cattle and dragging animals out of dams. It isn''t all fun that''s for sure. During muster we work very long hours for weeks on end which can fray the temper a little.
''But there are many milestones when you muster cattle over a long period and are slowing improving your abilities. After 13 years full-time and plenty of experience as a bush kid I am still learning about livestock and better ways to handle and ''beat'' them.''
Ben says you need to develop a strong ''eye'' for cattle to ensure you are drafting the right animal and can handle mobs of cattle in the paddock.
As with most management positions, you need to have good people management skills and have an understanding of their point of view. You also need to master the various types of water systems because the lives of thousands of animals are relying on you.
''In my role most of the more financial office work is done at Eneabba but in most station management positions this would be a requirement of the role.
''A general knowledge of the type of agriculture you are involved in is important and in my case that covers two systems (pastoral and agricultural) of land management as well.
''Pastoral workers need to be very adaptable to changes of plans in their day to day work as the requirements of caring for the livestock changes. Cattle do not take weekends off so if we want one we have to find systems to ensure the livestock''s well-being when we are not there.''
Ben advises young people interested in life on the land to make contact with one of the bigger pastoral houses such as Australian Agricultural Company, Northern Australian Pastoral Company or Heytesbury Beef to apply for a seasons mustering in the north of Australia.
''This would give an immediate exposure to the life in a good corporate structure to help you decide if this is the right choice for you. From there start looking for roles at smaller operations where the management will look after you as an individual and allow you more freedom in experiences and responsibilities.
''Always make contacts with others in similar positions and up the ladder because you never know when those contacts will stand you in good stead for employment or a reference.
''Generally, be prepared to get dirty, work long and hard and above all else, listen to everything that is being said around you because there will be many lifetimes of experience all around you.
''Some great contacts around Australia can be found by being involved with Future Farmers Network - www.futurefarmers.com.au - of which I am currently the Western Australian board member.''
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Acknowledgements |
Content courtesy of Louise Allan-Johnson. |
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