Kildare man Mick Cusack is co-founder of Harvest Work Solutions. Like so many other young Irish people, he and fiancee Trina (they only got engaged last week) decided to emigrate due to the difficulty Trina - a fully qualified accountant - was having trouble in finding a job.

They were only in Melbourne two days when they received a call from a friend working on a farm in Boundary Bend, northern Victoria, to say two people had been let go. So Mick and Trina jumped on an eight-hour bus ride to take the jobs.

For two months, Mick and Trina worked at Australian Vintage Wines, harvesting grapes at night. They then went from harvesting grapes to cotton, cotton to sugar cane and sugar cane to baling (their favourite). They were sent off together because Mick could fix any machinery breakdowns Trina might encounter.

But how did an accountant who'd never set foot in a tractor manage in the fields of Australia's cotton belt?

"She loved it to be honest," said Mick.

"Before tax she was clearing $25 an hour driving tractors. As a chartered accountant in Sydney she earned $26 an hour after tax, but half her wages went on rent. You get paid for every hour you work on the farms. Even during breakdowns you're paid because you find something to do; clean the tractor or get diesel. That isn't necessarily the case in an accounting firm."

Opportunity was aplenty in Australia. Out of 20 jobs Mick applied for, he was offered 18. When the season finished, farmers were ringing Mick and Trina to check if they were coming back next year. The couple also started receiving calls from Irish friends in Australia who were looking for work, particularly those who needed to complete 88 days of farm work to get their second-year visa.

"It was fine when I was helping close mates," said Mick. "But when their friends started ringing it got out of hand. I had people asking: 'Where do I go? How do I get there? Is there a bus or a plane?' At the start I'd charge a finder's fee to the farmer, but then the farmer would be giving out if they didn't like someone. I decided I may as well be making a living out of it, so Trina and I decided to set up a labour hire company."

Setting up a business in Australia is tough because all the states are governed differently, particularly when it comes to insurance and health and safety. But they received help from the Australian enterprise boards.

Now that the company is up and running, those seeking jobs can make contact through the website. "Australians put a lot of trust in people with machines that cost hundreds of thousands. Inexperienced Irish lads over here have crashed machines, caused €20,000 worth of damage, and then disappeared. I spent the weekends of my childhood visiting family farms in Roscommon, so I know very quickly if people are talking rubbish."

Harvest Work Solutions charges farmers an hourly rate and the workers are paid an hourly rate by the company.

Wages average about $22.50, which is €17.50 an hour. Most of the time accommodation is included as well. "For most of the year, workers have 60 hours a week; they work 40 hours a week for two months of the year and during harvest time it can be 80 to 100 hours a week" said Mick.

Floods wreaked havoc during Mick's first two years in Australia, meaning nobody had good hours. This year was very different.

"When harvesting, they'd sometimes go 24 hours a day straight because of the fear of rain."

The craic, as they say, sounds mighty. People stay in old shearing sheds and portakabins and dinner is cooked in the main house.

"There can be anything from 10 to 20 people in around the house. There's lots of beer drank," laughs Mick. "You'll be placed in a country town. It's very clannish. You have to get on with people, you must enjoy it.

"The lads go mad for two to three days after the harvest. There's one pub on the side of the highway that's 50km south of Moree. When it rains you'll find 50 to 100 Irish fellas in there going crazy."

Irish Farmers'

Winter

There's also opportunity for farmers based in Ireland. Wheat season in Australia starts on 1 October, running through November and December, meaning Irish tillage farmers can go out to Australia during the Irish winter.

"Many young Irish farmers are saving in the hope of being able expand the family farm back in Ireland," said Mick.

"They get ten grand into their account very quickly here. They could be doing five 100-hour weeks at €20 dollars an hour.

"They might have a baler and they'll buy a wrapper with their savings. But they have to be good and they have to be dedicated. They often have to work in areas with no mobile coverage. If Irish farmers use their visas to their best advantage they could do this stint twice.

"Nine out of 10 Australians swear they wouldn't have their farms today without the help of Irish lads in the last few years, and Irish guys are delighted to be getting the hours and the money that they are."

If you want to apply, visit the Harvest Work Solutions Facebook page or register on the website www.harvestworksolutions.co.au. They'll be looking for people to start in mid-March.