Dairy Cattle Farm Worker
What the work is
Performs routine tasks on a dairy farm, such as breeding, raising, feeding, droving and milking cattle.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Assists with maintaining the health and welfare of dairy cattle, including by patrolling, inspecting and reporting on their condition
- Provides dairy cattle with feed and water, and implements dairy cattle feeding and welfare programs
- Establishes pastures and crops for dairy cattle production
- Herds and droves dairy cattle to access feed, as well as for milking and other farming operations
- Washes and cleans udders, uses and sterilises milking machines, and performs milking shed hygiene processes
- Undertakes general dairy cattle farming activities, such as erecting and repairing fences, and maintaining and cleaning dairy cattle housing
- Operates and maintains general farm machinery, and water supply and irrigation systems
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in a mixed sheep and cattle property in the tablelands, with a shearing shed, a stockyard and a small horse stable. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- Mustering the mob home at the end of the day with the dogs working well
- The shearing shed running in sync, with fleeces flying and the sheep moving smoothly
- Spotting a stock problem early and seeing the animal recover
Hard days
- Dawn starts in freezing weather when the water troughs are iced over
- A fence down after a storm and animals out on the road
- Long days in the yards in dust and heat, with sore shoulders by the end
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 841233, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.