Congratulations to the CSIRO and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries for their actions this week in addressing the growing disinterest among students in pursuing careers in agricultural science.
But their activities in peaking the interests of students in agricultural science must be viewed as just the start of a wider policy debate about how to both attract, and more importantly, retain the best and brightest minds available.
The rural sciences sector is vital to the on-going viability of agricultural industry in Queensland, helping to protect farmers from exotic diseases, finding ways to manage the land more sustainably, and keeping production methods at the cutting edge of modern technology.
But the future of this network of scientists is under threat on three fronts, the first of which is competition from other career paths. According to the Australian Council of Deans of Agriculture, universities are producing less than half the number of graduates required, just 750 versus an annual demand of 2000. This is despite a Sydney University forecast that jobs in this field will grow by 36 percent in the next six years.
To that end the DPI and CSIRO promotional activities this week were very important, showing that careers in agriculture are more than just yarding stock, and include developing exciting technologies that can change the world.
Such research has the potential to take a career all over the globe, but if Queensland wants to attract and retain such talented minds, government and industry must also address the issues of remuneration and job security.
A number of current and former rural scientists this week posted comments on FarmOnline arguing these were the major deterrants to a career in agricultural science.
"Why would you embark on a degree course of 4 years incurring HECS and living expenses etc when you can move into the resource sector and earn $75,000 + in a very short time," one reader wrote. "Few young scientists can afford to buy a home when given low pay and short contracts," another wrote.
But valuing the work of agricultural scientists is not just about financial reward; it is also about respecting the research they conduct by keeping it free from politicisation.
The State Government has been guilty in the past of misrepresenting, ignoring and even covering up the findings of its own scientists if they did not match the political agenda.
The most famous instance of this in recent years was the treatment of former DPI research scientist Bill Burrows and a team of three other State Government employees, whose work showed the negative environmental and economic impact of Labor's policy to ban broadscale land clearing. Not only did the State Government deny the existence of the reports, the staff involved were ordered to wipe all copies from their computers and Dr Burrows was warned that if he spoke to the media about his research he would face the sack and the loss of his superannuation.
Inspiring students, as the DPI and CSIRO have done this week, is an important first step, but it is now time for the politicians over-seeing these departments restored the status of the agricultural scientist by offering suitable financial rewards and by respecting the independence of their work.
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