Fruit growers needed to match backpacker inquiries
Australia’s most trusted rural charity is appealing for fruit growers to join its Farm Army job posting platform.
Rural Aid’s ‘Farm Army’ website is a job posting platform for farmers. Paid or unpaid jobs are advertised to a volunteer, worker and grey nomad database of more than 10,000 people.
Rural Aid CEO John Warlters said there are thousands of job seekers using the site to look for seasonal work.
“We’ve seen a real influx of backpackers using Farm Army in the past few weeks,” Mr Warlters said.
“But we need more picking jobs on the site to meet the demand.
“We encourage all farmers to list their jobs on Farm Army, but especially those who use the invaluable workforce that is seasonal workers,” Mr Warlters said.
Mr Warlters said the current ratio of jobs to applicants sits at roughly 1:10.
“We see the highest success rates from job listings that are detailed, contain photos, and have information on lodgings,” Mr Warlters said.
“As the job-poster, farmers have full control over who is selected for the position they have advertised.
“One orange grower in the NSW’s Riverina region has used the Farm Army platform to find harvest workers for the past two years, and has had more than 190 applications for their roles.”
“We know how hard it can be for primary producers to find workers, so we are trying to fill that gap with Farm Army,” Mr Warlters said.
The Farm Army website can be found at https://www.farmarmy.com.au/
Rural Aid can assist farmers with limited internet or technology skills to use the site. Contact 1300 327 624 to find out more about this service.
Please note: Rural Aid has no involvement in the job description or selection beyond providing a platform for a job to be advertised.
About Rural Aid
Rural Aid is Australia’s most trusted rural charity. We stand with our farmers when they need us most. Rural Aid provides critical support to farmers affected by natural disaster through financial, wellbeing and fodder assistance. Rural Aid’s community programs help create more sustainable communities by building stronger futures for all Australian farmers. Find out more at www.ruralaid.org.au
For more information or interviews, contact Rural Aid media on
or 0447 116 757.