Ag career path with a difference

At a recent national ag teachers conference in Victor Harbor, she implored attendees to encourage their students to do the same - 'say yes' to career opportunities in the ag industry however difficult they may seem.

"If I could give students one bit of advice, it would be to say yes to opportunities and then figure out how you are going to do it later," she said.

"Don't let fear hold you back, because the ag industry is run by those that show up."

After deferring her studies at Marcus Oldham, Ms Moffat started out her ag career as a 19-year-old loading Brahmans onto a live export vessel bound for Indonesia.

She had grown up on a hobby farm in Vic, but had limited experience with livestock.

"That first voyage though was where I fell in love with the industry," she said.

"It was the start of a two-year career working on vessels, sailing on more than 15 consignments, anywhere from 4 days to 20 days at sea, Indonesia, Vietnam, China, Phillipines, often the only girl on board.

"I worked with some incredible crew members from all across the world, working in teams all dedicated to looking after those animals, ensuring they got off at the other end in the best state possible. It was such a great opportunity, and helped me to build my leadership skills at a very young age."

After furthering her education, Ms Moffat then moved into animal welfare compliance on export ships, another job she loved and worked in for six years.

"It was an unbelievable opportunity to travel and understand the important role that this industry was playing for the food security of neighbouring countries, as well as the northern Australian producers that were supplying these markets," she said.

"While my friends were travelling throughout Europe and Bali, I was in the back blocks of Hanoi, making sure abattoirs were stunning cattle correctly.

"I was not on the usual ag career path at age 23."

But when it came to professional development, Ms Moffat found a real gap in the live export community for young people.

"There were many young people looking to further their skills, so we decided to build our own Young Live Exporters Network," she said.

It was a management program she thought may attract 10-20 people, but after 12 months, the membership had grown to hundreds.

"We had really found a gap, particularly when you are living remotely and don't have access to a capital city," she said.

"We began helping people in taking the next step in their careers, particularly in management."

The 2021 Livestock Exporter Young Achiever of the Year said being part of this network, and eventually chairing the committee, was one of the "best decision she had ever made".

"It was definitely not easy, there was a lot of work involved, but it was extremely fun to do at the time, and it led to a lot of opportunities for members," she said.

"It was extremely rewarding to see young people start out as a member to then go on to work for an exporter or work in a role that came from making that connection through the network."

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It also led to network opportunities for Ms Moffat, who was appointed to the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework steering committee two years ago.

"This was the first time I had moved out of a direct animal welfare space - it was still my day-to-day job - but once on this committee, my eyes were opened to the emerging sustainability space," she said.

"After the first year on that committee, I realised this was a trend that was here to stay and an area where I wanted my career to take me."

Again through the networks she had developed, Ms Moffat found her most recent "dream job" as sustainability manager for successful Australian-owned ag company AAM Investment Group.

"The role has me looking for and supporting initiatives across our business to demostrate improvements for our environment, animals, people and the communities we are operating in," she said.

Ms Moffat said careers in sustainability were only relatively new to the Australian ag industry, but was an emerging opportunity.

"A trend we are seeing, is that it's not only a role within businesses, but we are seeing teams emerging," she said.

"For emerging agricultural enthusiasts, this will be a great career path for them to take."