PROfarm course list
PROfarm courses are delivered locally by highly skilled and respected NSW DPI staff. Many of the courses are subsidised to reflect the public benefits provided by the adoption of more sustainable farming practices. On-demand courses, tailored to the specific needs of individual groups, are also available.
A range of publications on all aspects of agriculture and land management are available through Tocal College to complement these courses.
Full course list
Alpaca care and management
This course is designed for property owners interested in breeding alpacas.
Basic pig nutrition
This online course explains the basics of pig nutrition. Nutrition impacts all aspects of pork production - breeding, growth and development, health and welfare. Feed is also the greatest component of the cost of production of pork. If you understand the needs of the pig you are able to make better economic decisions regarding their feed supply as well as having happy healthy pigs.
Beef care and handling
A course designed for property owners wishing to learn a range of practical tasks associated with the handling, breeding and caring for cattle on the farm.
Bees - Native stingless bees
This comprehensive course covers the biology of bees from nesting to foraging and the importance of bees in natural systems.
Bees - Pests & diseases of honey bees
This online course gives you the knowledge to identify and manage pests and diseases to improve the health and profitability of your colonies.
Bees - Pests and diseases of honey bees
This two-day course provides beekeepers with the skills to recognise, monitor and manage the impact of pests and disease on commercial honey bee colonies.
Bees - Queen bee breeding
This two-day course suits beekeepers interested in producing queen bees and/or entering the queen bee industry.
Beginning in Bees
A two-day practical beekeeping course for new and established beekeepers.
Biological control of weeds
This workshop is designed for land managers and natural resource officers who are involved in the control of weeds.
Business structures and relationships
This online subject covers how to chose a business structure that best suits a rural family business and how to review the way the business is organised, including its provision for succession.
Capture and handling of wild animals
This workshop is developed for rangers, vets and field officers who need to subdue and capture wild animals.
Certificate IV Training and Assessment TAE40110
The Certificate IV course will enable you to train and assess accredited qualifications in the Vocational Education and Training system. You will learn how to design and develop learning programs, plan, organise and deliver training to groups and in the workplace.
Chainsaw - Fall trees manually (basic)
How to safely and efficiently fall trees taking into account environmental requirements. (Competence in Trim and cross-cut felled trees is a prerequisite to attending this course)
Chainsaw - Fall trees manually (intermediate)
This one day course develops the skills required to assess, plan and safely carry out manual tree-felling operations using a chainsaw in a non-production environment.
Chainsaw - Pole saw operation
How to safely operate and maintain a mechanical pole saw for trimming high branches in a range of situations.
Chainsaw - Trim and cut felled trees (Level 1 chainsaw operation)
This course will show participants how to safely operate and maintain a chainsaw for removing a fallen tree using a range of cutting techniques.
Chainsaw operation and maintenance
A practical course for those seeking basic chainsaw cross-cutting (cutting timber on ground) and maintenance skills.
Chainsaw reaccreditation
Trim and Cut Felled Trees OR Fall trees manually (basic) OR Fall Trees manually (intermediate). This one day reaccreditation service is designed to maintain currency of skills.
Develop a whole farm plan - NEW Online course
This online course focuses on describing and managing your natural resources of soil, climate, water and vegetation. It also considers the people, finances and enterprises on the farm.
Faecal egg counts for worms
A course for those interested in managing internal parasites and worms in their livestock.
Farm planning
A course for land managers and farming families interested in natural resource management for sustainable farm production.
Fencing (conventional)
An introductory course for those seeking basic fencing knowledge and skills.
Forklift licence training and assessment
This 4-day course is to train participants for assessment for a WorkCover forklift licence.
From Knowledge to Action
Learn how to motivate landholders to implement new processes, practices or technologies on their land
Goat care and management
This course is designed for property owners interested in breeding goats.
Humane destruction of livestock
This course is for people working in livestock saleyards and associated industries to improve knowledge and skills in animal welfare, management of injured and distressed animals, making decisions about destruction of animals and the correct procedures of carrying out euthanasia.
Identifying environmental weeds
The workshop has been developed to extend participants’ knowledge and skills beyond the basic recognition and collection techniques developed in the Certificate II Recognising Grasses/Water weeds workshops.
Identifying grasses
This workshop has been developed to extend participants’ knowledge and skills beyond the basic recognition and collection techniques developed in the Certificate II Recognising Grasses.
Identifying plants
Don’t go flicking through countless pages in field guides to identify plants! This course shows how to; use patterns that occur in related plants to more quickly and easily identify plants, use a broad range of resources to confirm identities, and effectively recall names at a later date.
Introduction to grazing management
This 4 hour course introduces the range of grazing management practices and the implications for production and landscape health.
Introduction to pastures
Introduces the role of pastures in the animal system and landscape, including feed, ground cover and biodiversity. Looks at matching pastures to landscapes and how feed gaps affect farm management.
Introduction to soil biology
This four hour course will have you exploring the diversity of soil biology and its essential role in soil health
Introduction to soils and fertility
Explore what makes a healthy soil, how soil fertility influences how and which plants grow and how soil fertility can be affected by management practices.
LANDSCAN®
This course, held over 5 half-days and 1 full day, farmers and land managers develop skills and knowledge to assess natural resources to better match land use to land capability and to make more informed decisions about managing landscapes and allocating resources to better balance production, profit and sustainability.
Legal stage 1 training for weeds officers
Legal stage 1 is the first course in a series designed for people working with the NSW Noxious Weeds Act 1993. It provides participants with a thorough understanding of the legislative requirements and responsibilities.
Livestock safe handling & welfare
This 2 day course is designed to help people working with livestock reduce the risk of injuries and fatalities by providing practical skills and knowledge on safe livestock handling techniques.
Livestock welfare and handling - Masterclass
This 2 day course is aimed to improve knowledge and skills in basic animal handling techniques with emphasis on minimising stress and animal welfare.
Lucerne online
Lucerne online is a new short course on lucerne management, designed for farmers and graziers, livestock producers, managers of lucerne stands and those involved in the lucerne industry. If you want to introduce lucerne to your farming system or are interested in the production of high quality lucerne pasture and fodder, then Lucerne online is a learning tool for you or your employees.
Maintain farm safety - NEW Online Course
This online course covers implementing and maintaining processes on a farm or related enterprise to comply with the requirements of WHS Regulations.
Manage risk
This online subject describes how to develop a risk management plan for your enterprise.
Manage soils
This online course covers the process of monitoring and managing soils in an agricultural or horticultural enterprise.
Manage staff
This course focuses on how a farm business can develop a positive workplace culture that is characterised by vision, values and effective communication.
Manage the farm business
This online course takes you step-by-step through the process of developing a farm business plan - a plan that will help you measure progress against the plans, vision and goals for your property.
Management of trunk disease and young vine decline
This course will give participants an understanding of the impact of trunk disease on vineyard health and assets
Managing climate risk - NEW Online course
This online course explains how to develop a climate risk management strategy for an agricultural, horticultural or land management enterprise.
Marketing agricultural products and services - NEW Online course
This course is designed for those interested in exploring concepts associated with marketing of agricultural products and services.
NSW Quad Bike Safety Improvement Program
A one day course for those wanting to develop their skills in the safe use of four wheeled motor bikes.
Off-road four wheel drive (4x4) training
This 2 day course will teach you how to safely operate a four wheel drive vehicle off-road and use vehicle recovery techniques.
Operate farm motor bikes (2 wheel)
This one day course aims to develop skills in the safe off road use and maintenance of two wheel motor bikes.
Paddock plants
This introductory course will help you to recognise pasture plants for better understanding of biodiversity, landscape factors, management implications and production potential.
Paddock plants - Advanced
This course shows how to; use patterns that occur in related plants to more quickly and easily identify plants, use a broad range of resources to confirm identities, and effectively recall names at a later date.
Pasture establishment basics
Introduction to pasture establishment covering the basics of pasture planning including matching species to soil conditions, soil preparation, sowing methods and weed control
Performance management and MERI training
This workshop is designed to lift understanding of project management and to meet the Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Improvement requirements for outcomes based projects. It will provide participants with the skills and knowledge to develop a MERI plan.
Photography for fieldwork
This course covers the fundamentals of digital photography. It teaches users to understand the functions and settings of their cameras.
Poultry care for the home flock
A basic introduction to poultry and the management of the home flock
Prograze abridged
An intensive two day course to develop skills in assessing pasture and animal production and to develop pasture and livestock management plans.
Prograze Plus
This workshop series builds on the skills and knowledge learnt in Prograze, leading to the development of a whole farm fodder budget.
Prograze®
Run over 8 half-days in the field, this course provides skills for participants to assess pasture characteristics influencing pasture and animal production and to develop pasture and livestock management plans.
Promoting vine health
This course is designed for people with a direct involvement in pruning and disease control in vineyards.
PROwater® Benchmarking and water budgeting
This half-day workshop is designed for those in the irrigation industry wanting to improve or develop their benchmarking and water-budgeting skills. Benchmarking and water budgeting allows you to evaluate your performance in relation to water efficiency, productivity and profitability.
PROwater® Centre pivots and lateral moves
To ensure irrigation systems reach their full potential in adding to the farm business, they need to be properly designed, installed, managed and maintained. This 2-day course is part of the PROwater® irrigation training series and examines these aspects of centre pivots and lateral or linear move (CP/LM) systems.
PROwater® Drip irrigation (introduction)
This course is part of the PROwater® irrigation training series and is designed for irrigators and those in the industry considering drip irrigation. It covers the factors to consider before investing in a drip-irrigation system.
PROwater® Irrigation pumps
This half-day course is designed to improve irrigators’ knowledge and understanding of common irrigation pumps so they are better able to select, operate and maintain their pumping equipment.
PROwater® Low-level sprinkler irrigation (advanced)
This is an advanced workshop expanding on the principles introduced in the Irrigation Management Course, as well as introducing more advanced topics. It is specifically written for irrigators already using low-level sprinkler irrigation.
PROwater® Pressurised irrigation systems
This half-day module is part of the PROwater® irrigation training series and is primarily designed for irrigators using pressurised irrigation systems such as travelling irrigators, rotating booms, spray lines, side roll, end tow and hand/bike shift systems.
PROwater® Scheduling irrigation
A half-day course consisting of speaker presentations, group discussions, calculation exercises on paper and practical demonstrations.
PROwater® Soils and irrigation
This module is part of the PROwater® irrigation training series and introduces you to techniques for assessing the irrigation characteristics of soil and water quality.
PROwater® Storage and distribution
A half-day course designed for those in the irrigation industry wanting to maximise the efficiency of their storage and distribution systems.
PROwater® Surface drip irrigation (advanced)
This is an advanced workshop expanding on the principles introduced in the Waterwise Irrigation Management Course, as well as introducing more advanced topics. It is specifically written for irrigators already using drip irrigation. It is part of the PROwater® irrigation training series.
PROwater® Surface irrigation systems
This half-day module is part of the PROwater® irrigation training series is designed for irrigators and those in the industry who wish to improve their management skills in surface irrigation systems (furrow, border check and contour).
PROwater® Water metering
This half-day course will assist you in selecting, installing and maintaining a water meter. It also provides background information on flow hydraulics and water measurement principles.
Quad bike handling
A one day course for those wanting to develop their skills in the safe use of four wheeled motor bikes.
Recognising grasses
Participants will learn to recognise common weedy, native and desirable introduced grasses within an area and understand what they may indicate about the environment and management of a site.
Recognising water weeds
This workshop is designed for weed professionals or other natural resource managers who require knowledge of water weed species and how to distinguish between native look-a-likes.
Recognition and management of native grasses
Recognition of native grasses for better understanding of biodiversity, landscape factors, management implications and production potential
Safe tractor operation and maintenance
A 2 day course covering safe operation of tractors and appliances and basic maintenance and care.
Service and maintain small powered machines
This one day course teaches you to carry out your own servicing and adjustments to small powered machines - Ride on Mowers, Hand Mowers, Line Trimmers, Brush Cutters, Mulchers and Chainsaws in a safe manner to OHS standards and to manufacturer’s specifications.
Sheep care and handling
This course is designed for property owners interested in breeding sheep.
SMARTtrain® chemical application (Level 3)
A 2 day course for people who use pesticides with powered and hand-held application equipment.
SMARTtrain® chemical application (Level 3) online
An online course aimed at people who use chemicals in their workplace and will help you safely apply, transport and store chemicals using best practice methods whilst meeting legislative requirements.
SMARTtrain® Chemical application reaccreditation (Level 3) online
This online course is for participants with immediate computer skills, reliable internet access and a valid email address. Candidates must have previously completed a Level 3 chemical accreditation and supply a copy of a current chemical accreditation card on enrolment.
SMARTtrain® chemical risk management (Level 4)
This one day course is suitable for training supervisors and managers with risk management skills to manage the transportation, storage, application and record keeping of agricultural chemicals (including biological pesticides). Participants must be accredited at Level 3 to achieve competence at Level 4.
SMARTtrain® chemical risk management (Level 4) online
This online course is suitable for training supervisors and managers with risk management skills to manage the transportation, storage, application and record keeping of agricultural chemicals (including biological pesticides). Candidates must have previously completed a Level 3 chemical accreditation and supply a copy of a current chemical accreditation card on enrolment.
SMARTtrain® fumigation on farms
A one-day course designed to instruct participants in how to identify and understand the life cycles of stored grain insect pests; manage stored grain more effectively, and work effectively with fumigants for stored product protection and vertebrate pest management.
SMARTtrain® Level 3 reaccreditation
This 1 day course is suitable for reaccrediting people previously accredited in a Level 3 chemical usage course. People who use pesticides in their business must be reaccredited every five years.
SMARTtrain® weeds and their control
A training and assessment resource for the scoping, documenting, planning, control and monitoring of weeds.
Soils and fertilisers
A practical course for those seeking a better understanding soils and fertilisers.
StockPlan®
This online course guides you through the process of developing a drought risk management plan.
Taking the 'Man' out of manuals
Introductory course in simple safety methods to handle chainsaws and techniques to maintain and service small powered machines including mowers, brush cutters and generators
Topfodder silage - an introduction
New information and technology on the making and use of silage and hay will be presented in this one day overview of the Topfodder successful silage course.
TopfodderTM silage
This 3 day course covers the science of silage, crop selection, making, storing and feeding high quality silage. The program includes hands-on inspection and assessment of silage on farms using both bulk and baled silage.
Vegetation survey and assessment
This 2-day workshop is designed for land managers who want to know more about the vegetation and how it is changing on any site they are investigating.
Vertebrate pest management
A course designed for people implementing vertebrate pest management for agricultural protection and conservation.
Weed management and prevention
Explores the cause rather than the symptoms of a weed problem and develops and understanding of the weed / environment interaction to develop sustainable strategies for control and prevention
Weed movement - Machinery inspection and cleaning
The workshop has been developed to increase the awareness of how weeds and other pest organisms can be spread via contaminated machinery and what can be done to reduce the risk of this occurring.
Weed officer induction
The Weeds Officer Induction Program provides recently employed staff with a well rounded appreciation of their roles and responsibilities as well as familiarising them with the support network available within the weeds industry.
Weed risk management
This course has been developed to increase participant's ability to assess the relative importance of weeds in their area.
Working in confined spaces
This 2 day course provides participants with the skills and knowledge required to work safely in confined spaces.
Working in confined spaces - Refresher
This one day refresher course provides participants with the skills and knowledge required to enter and work in confined spaces safely.