Former banker Jodie Green changed careers to be involved in the family business. Photo: Supplied.
A 54-year-old former banking business manager has traded the boardroom for the shearing shed to reinvent her life and embrace new opportunities.
Boree Creek farmer Jodie Green has become a wool classer as the local job market in the Riverina continues to evolve.
The mum of three runs Boree Creek Poll Merino stud “Aloe Burn” with her husband Andrew and son Tom. She said the practical skills she learned studying a Certificate IV in Wool Classing at TAFE NSW were “invaluable.”
“I knew I needed to learn about the wool industry and the way the course gave me a great foundation for the different mechanics of the shed,” she said.
“To learn in the TAFE NSW shearing shed how to class wool properly and the various industry elements has been invaluable.”
The TAFE NSW Primary Industries Centre graduate, who now classes all the wool at Aloe Burn, which has 8500 breeding ewes, also freelances as a wool classer.
Jodie was born and raised in Canberra and attended Orange Ag College.
“I always rode horses and loved the land and everything to do with it,” Jodie explained.
“It wasn’t common for kids from Canberra to go to Orange Ag College … it was where I met my husband.
“We got married a couple of years after I finished college. Andrew managed properties for the first 11 years, and we lived in various regional and rural locations around the state.”
Boree Creek farmer Jodi Green with her husband Andrew. Photo: Supplied.
The family moved to Orange and Jodie pursued a career in banking for 11 years until two of her children graduated from high school.
Jodie moved to the Riverina at the end of 2013, soon after her husband took over his family’s farm in 2012.
It was then that she wanted to learn everything about wool.
“I wanted to learn about the characteristics of wool and what features made it good for processing and made it a great salable product,” Jodie said.
“I wanted to improve my knowledge and be able to play a pivotal role in the preparation and marketing available.
“It was through nothing but sheer determination to grow my knowledge about what we needed.”
Now, no two days are the same for the former banker.
“I’m fundamentally involved in the breeding and genetic decisions of our flock … I work in the yard when we’re marking lambs, classing sheep, and preparing for shearing.
“I’m responsible for clasping the wool, preparing the clip, preparing the wool species, getting the wool delivered down to the testing site, and then liaising with our wool brokers to market the wool.
“And I’m responsible for all of the bookwork and administration of the business.”
Locals from the Riverina are future-proofing their careers by upskilling in priority industries with TAFE NSW, including the booming wool classing industry.
TAFE NSW wool classing enrolments are surging statewide, with the wool industry confronting an ongoing skills shortage.
TAFE NSW Chief Delivery Officer Janet Schorer said TAFE NSW was committed to delivering a pipeline of skilled workers to meet the growing demand in the Monaro region.
“Jodie is an example of the high-quality students TAFE NSW is training to meet skills demand now and into the future,” Ms Schorer said.
“Over the next 10 years, more than nine out of 10 new jobs will require post-secondary qualifications. TAFE NSW is crucial for the future of the Riverina regional economy and for providing people with skills for current and future job markets.
“Semester two is about to start, making it the perfect time to explore the range of courses at your local TAFE NSW campus. Whether you prefer online, face-to-face, or teacher-led virtual classrooms, we have study options to suit your needs,” Ms Schorer said.
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