As she calls a sprawling homestead in southern NSW home, it’s hard to fathom how Hannah Bamford has gone from leaving school directionless – to being the assistant manager of a 4000-hectare property near Young. Her career in agriculture all started thanks to a chance meeting with a vet, which set off an incredible chain of events that have culminated in the 31-year-old launching her own rural employment platform Ag-Work Solutions. To learn more about her unconventional path into farming, Hannah Bamford is telling her story.
Hannah’s day starts with a morning meeting with another worker on the property to discuss the priorities on the farm. The jobs could be anything from drenching sheep, worming sheep, spraying or cropping, stock checks to fixing fences. It’s a vast skill set which makes it even more impressive considering Hannah has no formal education in agriculture. “One funny story when I first started contracting, I got asked to fix up some old fences. I said, ‘No worries. I can do that’ and spent the night before on YouTube! I had no idea how to do it,” she laughs.
‘But the older I get, the better I am at asking for help. It’s usually met with absolutely open, warm arms.”
The path to agriculture wasn’t a straight one. Hannah was working with Australian Border Force, and at the same time she got a Kelpie puppy, that she needed get vaccinated. She found a cattle vet who did house visits to vaccinate dogs. They hit it off, and during her long stints when she wasn’t on deployment, she started assisting the vet. Her first job was preg-testing 500 head of cattle. “I had no idea what I was in for. It was mind blowing,” she recalls.
“I was just somebody who bought my meat from the supermarket. I just didn’t even think about these things. I was amazed.”
From there, she took odd jobs helping at studs and properties in her downtime. “The love just grew and grew,” she says. After a couple of years, Hannah quit her government job and became a sole trader. It took time to gain consistent work. “It was really hard to gain trust from people,” she recalls. That meant letterbox drops, social media posts, and cold calling. Word spread that Hannah was a hard worker and a fast learner.
Before long, Hannah had more work that she did time, so she started outsourcing, eventually launching Ag-Work Solutions. A platform where farmers can post the work they need done, and contractors and businesses can apply.
It’s taken plenty of grit and setbacks but landing her dream job at such a young age, still isn’t lost on Hannah. “I am sitting here in my kitchen at the moment, looking out to this most incredible garden that I have around this house. I have a four-bedroom home, absolutely beautiful home. I have a work vehicle.”
“It takes the weight off your shoulders. Sometimes you work really long hours, and to not have to worry about where you live and how you’ll be able to afford things like that. It’s a bit of extra security.”
Hannah had added to her knowledge as a successful recipient of the Angus Foundation Scholarship, which revolutionised the way she looked at cattle in terms of body shape, and what information that gives you about the bloodline.
“Everything has just rolled into something different. I just keep saying, yes.”
Hannah tells everyone who will listen that it’s a huge misconception that you can’t do agriculture if you didn’t grow up in a country town, or in a farming family. “I used to think there are old grumpy farmers out there who didn’t want to have a young blonde-haired girl, who’s not from the country, walk up to them and ask to work. I thought they’d get cranky and not want to book you. But it’s actually quite the opposite.”
And the view from the property homestead, is further proof, that your past doesn’t dictate your future.
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