Sang is a 25-year-old Graduate Farm Business Consultant working for Planfarm. She has been based in Manjimup for the last four years. After graduating from Curtin Agribusiness, she moved to be with her partner and started her career in Agriculture with Planfarm.
Agriculture hasn’t always been something Sang knew much about, stating, “It was by accident, I always wanted to study biology or environmental sciences”. A couple of representatives visited Sang’s school in year 12 with a scholarship opportunity that she assumed would be for biology. This opportunity was a week-long trip that allowed Sang to dip her toe into the Agricultural Industry, visiting CBH sites and Intergrain. “It was all very exciting, and I thought this might be a cool industry to be involved with“. Realising there were limited occupations available in biology, Sang made a choice to study Agribusiness at Curtin
The role within Planfarm as a consultant put very simply, is to sit down after harvest, analyse everything that has happened in the business within the past year, and make their clients a budget for their upcoming year, and oversee the season. They will continue updating their client’s budgets and providing insight throughout the year with a farm visit in spring. Sand said, “Our goal is to help our clients be more productive and efficient”. Other elements of the role include helping with project management, goal and vision setting, succession planning, board meetings, benchmarking, writing newsletters and other various tasks and factors. Sang will also be aiming to manage her own client portfolio next season as she continues to transition in her role from graduate consultant to a full-time consultant
Leaving university and getting a job in the industry has given Sang a lot to reflect on, stating, “They don’t teach you everything at Uni”. Sang said she learnt a lot about the business side of farming but not a lot about the practical side. “It is very different understanding livestock and learning how to drive a tractor” “You have to be able to understand how all the different processes all work to be able to talk to farmers every day”. “It was a massive learning curve being in the real world”
Moving into the Agricultural Industry, Sang said, “Everyone has been very warm and welcoming, although I do find it very male orientated”. Within Planfarm, Sang said the team has some very diverse women working across all areas. Sang has noticed the division between the sexes “I still think that many people in the industry don’t take women seriously especially younger women”.
Sang is excited to see more Women in Agriculture be highlighted for their role and said even in the four years since she has graduated, she has seen a lot of growth. Sang loves being a Woman in Agriculture as she considers that there has been such an amazing amount of progress. She believes women are doing amazing things and finally being recognised for their work.
Sang’s best piece of advice for regional women wanting to have a career is to surround yourself with a good mentor and network. She believes focusing on networking in the specific industry that you want to be in is very important. A lot of things can be done online, which Sang believes has opened up an array of opportunities for regional women to work remotely in a career they want to. She also said, “Regional WA’s agricultural industry is extremely small, and it is important to maintain good relationships with people is essential.”
Sang hopes to become a Consultant within Planfarm. She is hugely interested in Regenerative Agriculture and how she can focus on implementing her Agronomy and consultancy skills with her book of clients to further develop with Planfarm as she continues to grow her career.
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