Harvest casuals work in grain handling and sampling roles. Photo: GrainCorp Murtoa

GRAINCORP is looking for up to 3000 new recruits to help manage this year’s winter-crop harvest in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria which is forecast to yield up to 21.5 million tonnes (21.5).

ABARES most recent estimate has pegged national winter-crop production at 44.5Mt, 11 per cent above the 10-year average to 2019-20, while the forecast for eastern states is up 18pc on the 10-year average.

GrainCorp CEO Robert Spurway said the company’s network of storage and receival sites was well equipped to receive the incoming crop, and he was looking forward to growing the workforce to manage it.

“We’ll be combing regional and rural towns for new recruits and returning staff to help manage grain receivals at our sites throughout our network,” he said.

“We want to support the communities in which we live and work, some of which have really struggled economically through the drought over the last couple of years.”

Mr Spurway said casual positions played a vital role in GrainCorp’s harvest operations.

“It’s important that we offer an effective service for growers, but also that we provide opportunity in those small towns as one of Australia’s largest seasonal employers.

“We’re particularly looking forward to recruiting in parts of Queensland, including the Goondiwindi and Western Downs regions, for the first time in three years.”

“We see this as a great opportunity to provide employment and be part of a revival in the bush following a prolonged drought and several months of disruption from COVID-19.”

Claire Matthews from Greenethorpe, NSW, has worked with GrainCorp each season for the past four years.

“There’s early starts, hot days and work that flows into the evenings, only to get up and do it all again the next day – and it’s absolutely worth it,” she said.

“From chatting with growers and truck drivers to using technology to grade their grain, I’ve gained so much confidence in taking on new tasks and working under pressure in this job.”

“My advice to anyone applying would be to get in quick when applications open, so you can complete the interviews and training before harvest hits, where life becomes much, much busier.”

GrainCorp’s induction program provides casual harvest staff with technical training to ensure they are equipped with the right skills for their positions.

From tomorrow, GrainCorp will offer casual positions to operate weighbridges and sample stands at receival sites, as well as hopper-attendant and grain-handler positions.

GrainCorp is Australia’s biggest bulk handler by capacity and operating area.

Its sites stretch from Mackay and Mt McLaren in central Queensland to Portland in south-west Victoria.

Source: GrainCorp