SWAN Hill agribusinesses and politicians have voiced their concern about dwindling enrolments in Agricultural education and the detrimental effects the trend may have on the industry.
Federal Member for Murray Dr Sharman Stone said cash-strapped universities are axing courses as student demand in the industry declines.
"There were only 20 students at the University of Melbourne's Dookie Campus finishing their Bachelor of Agriculture this year and there were only 55 new enrolments this year," Dr Stone said.
"The University of Western Sydney cancelled its agriculture course at the Hawkesbury campus after less than 10 students enrolled.
"Fewer than 700 agricultural graduates are expected to graduate in 2012 nationwide. This is a huge shortfall given the 4000 agri-related tertiary level jobs available each year."
Dodgshun Medlin agricultural consultant Danny Conlan said the shortage of agriculture graduates had impacted on the business.
"The whole crux is that farming is a complex business these days... and we need the help of skilled people to prosper," he said.
"And it's not just about helping the farmers, it's about helping the community.
"We're quite concerned we can't access the right people and meet the growing needs of agricultural communities."
Mr Conlan said the "first step and the biggest step" working to change a negative perception of the agriculture industry in the broader community.
"From our perspective the industry is exciting but it's not portrayed [that way] in the media," he said.
"There are enormous opportunities, not just in agriculture, but in the services that support agriculture."
Agrivision Consultants manager Kent Wooding said reduced numbers of agriculture graduates was becoming evident as an employer.
"Each year we look for graduates to take into our business and suitable applicants are getting harder and harder to find."
Mr Wooding said Victorian universities such as Longerenong College and Melbourne University's Dookie campus provided a lot of the agriculture students throughout the North West region.
"Four years ago, we took two students out of six that studied agriculture at Dookie (and since then, it) hasn't improved at all."
Mr Wooding said the lack of education around agriculture in primary and secondary schools, and the negative publicity farming can receive in the media was turning students away from the industry.
"The government are running a thorough process of researching the problem at the moment so I think they're aware of the issues, I just hope we get action at the end of it."
The Victorian Parliament is soon to finish public hearings for an inquiry into Agricultural Education and Training, with a report due by mid-November.
Meanwhile, the inquiry into the "capacity of the farming sector to attract and retain young farmers and respond to an ageing workforce", which visited Swan Hill in July last year, is due to present its report to Victorian Parliament in May.
Recent agriculture graduate from Charles Sturt University's Wagga Wagga Campus and now an Agrivision agronomist Jaron Bennett said he graduated with a class of about 30, of which most were already from rural areas.
"There wouldn't be many from the city taking up jobs in the country, so I suppose with the country areas in decline, it's a vicious cycle," he commented.
"I don't know how to fix it, but we need to get more city people interested in farming."
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