Lethbridge was the place to be Tuesday for people looking for a job in agriculture.
The second annual agricultural job fair to be held in Lethbridge attracted many people who were looking for work. There were many businesses and some farmers that were looking for employees.
“We’re marketing over 100 jobs available in the ag sector,” said Anna Keuth, business and industry liasion for AlbertaWorks. “All of these employers here today are looking for workers so there’s definitely jobs available.”
The job fair was organized by Alberta Works and Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development.
“Agriculture suffers I guess the same way as most other industries do,” said Alan Dooley from Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development. “They’re more or less constantly in need of workers and as the industry grows that gets more and more critical.”
18 employers, looking for people to work on their farms and agricultural businesses, attended the job fair. They offered a wide range of jobs. Some were entry level jobs, some were for summer students and some required skilled workers.
Darrell Kurtz from Richardson Pioneer said, “We’re have positions helping load rail cars and unload fertilizer cars. We’ve got a input business where we sell ag retail, chemicals, purchase grain from the farmers.”
Daina Lazzarotto from McCain Foods said, “We always have a general labour position, doing some line sanitation and in our packaging department, putting boxes onto the lines for the french fries to go in. But our main focus right now is licensed mechanics and electricians.”
Strangmuir Farms was offering jobs. It has 3,000 acres of crops and 24,000 cattle in its feedlot.
“The feedlot employs people who are pen riders that have experience treating cattle, riding on horseback,” said Brent Chaffee. “We also need people doing feeding so driving semi trucks around the feedlot to deliver the feed to the individual pen.
We’re also looking for people that can work in processing, that’s inducting cattle into the feedlot. Tagging them, weighing them and giving them their vaccines as they enter the feedlot.”
It was the 2nd annual Agricultural Job Fair. Unemployment in Alberta is around 4.6 percent. The job fair put on to help people get to work in agriculture.
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