Operation Grain Harvest Assist: Defence Force veterans come to grain growers’ rescue

Former members of the Australian Defence Force are filling the harvest labour void, to help grain growers cope with worker shortages.

The nation’s military veterans are joining up to serve their country once again, in a battle to overcome the dire shortage of grain harvest workers.

A program called Operation Grain Harvest Assist, which began last year, is placing ex- Australian Defence Force men and women into the huge number of unfilled harvest jobs created by the pandemic.

And the program has been extended this year, offering formal training in all aspects of grain harvest operations to ensure the new recruits can hit the ground running.

Sean Murphy, 50, from Merrigum worked on a 4000ha mixed grain property at Moree NSW last harvest, driving a tractor and chaser bin. He was in the navy for seven years before working in Corrections Victoria.

He said it was one of the best experiences of his life and would recommend it to any veteran looking for new opportunities after their military service.

Operation Grain Harvest Assist participants. Picture: Supplied

Once veterans left the forces, they often felt purposeless and without a sense of belonging and this was a fantastic way to make a really significant contribution to society and to feel good about themselves, Mr Murphy said.

Bob Carlos, 65, from Kingaroy Queensland who spent 48 years in the Army before retiring in 2016, was one of the first participants last season, taking a harvest job on a 3000ha farm at Moonie in Queensland.

“Being able to contribute and doing something worthwhile was a great feeling,” he said.

He has since gone on to be employed as a grain train driver moving grain from Goondiwindi to port in Brisbane.

“More than anything it is probably helping me live longer as I have to maintain a good level of fitness to do the job,” Mr Carlos said.

In September, 18 former ADF personnel underwent an intensive week’s training course at Longerenong College near Horsham, sponsored by Case IH and its Victorian dealership O’Connors, MacDon Australia, Muddy River Agricultural and Waringa Enterprises.

The participants studied machinery and broadacre farm production theory, participated in combine simulator training before getting behind the controls of two Case IH Axial-Flow combines with fronts attached and visited two local farms.

The OGHA program began last harvest as an initiative of WA Farmers and several former ADF personnel backed by Grains Producers Australia to overcome the chronic shortage of header drivers, chaser bin drivers, mechanics, MC and HR truck drivers, spray rig operators and general hands. It placed 250-300 veterans in harvest jobs on farms across Australia.

Executive senior sales manager for O’Connors David Hair said they became involved after an approach from Ouyen farmer and returned service person Ian Hastings and Royal Australian Armoured Corps officer Lt-Col Garry Spencer AM (retired), who wanted Operation Grain Harvest Assist running through a leading agriculture training institution.

“This program helps achieve two big objectives: offering employment opportunities for returned service people and addressing the considerable labour shortfalls we have across the grain-growing industry,” Mr Hair said.

“Through undergoing this training, the participants could undertake everything from operating harvesters and driving tractors with chaser bins, to unloading grain trucks and even working in grain-handling facilities.”

Most of the course’s graduates already had well-paid jobs lined up for this harvest, Lt-Col Spencer said.

The quality of the Longerenong participants was incredible, including three colonels, a former RAAF test pilot, a naval clearance diver and a warship captain, he said.

ADF veterans were some of the most professional, well-trained people in the country and on leaving the forces they were a huge untapped resource for the grains industry.

They had the perfect set of skills in handling big complex machinery that could be easily transferred to the farm, plus they also were great team players, Lt-Col Spencer said.

Lt-Col Spencer said the OGHA program, currently being run by volunteers, was not only helping fix the immediate problem of staff shortages but longer term it could put the grain industry’s workforce needs on a more sustainable basis, rather than relying on the ad hoc casual workforce such as backpackers and foreign workers.

The next step was for some of the most experienced veterans to go on and become instructors themselves to train new recruits onto the program.

Farmers and veterans interest in registering for the OGHA program either as employers or as employees for jobs and training, can visit the Operation Grain Harvest Assist website opgha.org.au and Facebook page.