With students starting their courses, a government spokeswoman said an increase had been seen on the back of hundreds of inquiries in 2018.
‘‘TAFEs have already reported an early increase in January student commencements in free TAFE agriculture courses compared with last year,’’ she said.
‘‘In 2018, hundreds of Victorians inquired about agriculture courses through the free TAFE initiative.’’
Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE provides industry expertise in cropping and dairy and the farming of sheep, pigs and cattle, and its commercial manager of agriculture Darren Payne said GOTAFE would play a huge part in the future of the agricultural industry.
‘‘We have noticed an influx of farmers keen to upskill their workforce,’’ he said.
In dairy, for example, there have been many advances in recent years which are used for monitoring the reproductive activity and health and welfare status of dairy cows.
‘‘Many of these technologies advance quickly and GOTAFE’s ability to remain at the forefront of these technologies has allowed us to upskill generational farmers and those new to the industry.’’
For those interested, courses range from a Certificate II to Certificate IV.
Applications are still open to study a free TAFE course at GOTAFE in 2019.
■For the full list of free TAFE courses or for more information on studying in 2019, visit: www.gotafe.vic.edu.au/freetafe/ or phone 1300 468 233.