Farming initiative steps up push for new entrants

It is a tall order – 60,000 new entrants are required for the land-based industries, including farming, over the next 10 years.

The challenge is even more daunting when taking into account the poor appeal of agriculture to the next generation. Those already in farming love it, but try to convince a teenager with no agricultural background to consider it as a career and you have your work cut out.

School children, their parents and even their teachers tend to have a negative image of farming as an occupation. It’s often seen as a route to a practical job for less academic youngsters yet is rarely seen as a positive pathway for the brighter pupils. Medicine, the law, veterinary science and the media all score more highly in the career glamour stakes and are seen as financially more rewarding with good promotional opportunities for those with the right skills.

The Royal Agricultural Society of England estimates that farming must recruit in excess of 6,000 new entrants a year for the next decade, of which about 1,000 each year will be for salaried management roles. Only between 50-70% of the recruits required by employers are emerging from further and higher education, creating a shortfall in numbers coming forward.

Positive message

Other professions like teaching, nursing and the army, have transformed their new entrant numbers by focusing on more positive messages through pro-active careers campaigns. Agriculture intends to learn from these experiences and follow suit with a new initiative called Careers in Farming and Food Supply.Led by a working group of key organisations and individuals, the scheme hopes to mobilise widespread industry support for a massive image makeover. They want to change perceptions within non-farming families, in urban areas and in schools to encourage a wider group of young people to consider agri careers as an exciting option.

The scheme is being run by Farming and Countryside Education (FACE) and is backed by AB Agri, NFU, RASE, HSBC, AIC, Lantra, Landex, National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs, the Agri Skills Forum, Frontier, Oxford Farming Conference, Natural England, Farmers Weekly and Business in the Community.It is the first sector-wide scheme focused on attracting the best and brightest into the food supply chain from farm to processor. AB Agri chief executive David Yiend is chairing the working group.

What will the working group deliver?

Bill Graham, FACE’s head of education, said the working group aims to deliver in three areas:

• A website serving as a one-stop shop for young people which maps career opportunities and provides case studies 

• Promotional materials for schools to enthuse young people and their careers advisors

• A recruitment campaign to identify people who will act as ambassadors for the industry in schools.

He believes the biggest problem lies within secondary schools and students aged between 11-19 years who struggle to understand what the word “agriculture” means. Research about to be released by the group will show that most pupils have a limited knowledge often based on farming stereotypes.

It is not fully appreciated by teenagers and those advising them on school leaving choices that many agricultural careers these days require specialist qualifications and use science and business related skills. The complexity and technical nature of agricultural jobs is rarely understood or promoted.

Careers advice and guidance

Sir Mike Tomlinson, ex-chief inspector of schools and president of RASE, said: “It is my experience that few teachers in our schools have much knowledge of careers in agriculture and very few sources of information are readily available (except FACE). From April, schools are responsible for providing careers advice and guidance to their students. Thus the need for objective and up-to-date information is vital for teachers, students and parents.

“The industry is poorly understood within the education sector and we need to show what exciting and challenging careers exist today, with science and technology at the forefront. Problem solving, teamwork and innovation are characteristics of so much of the work, all features which appeal to young people. Add matters like sustainability and feeding the population then there are few more satisfying careers.”

Hertfordshire farmer and Farmers Weekly columnist Ian Pigott gives numerous careers talks to school children and he believes the biggest hurdle is that young people are unaware of the enormous opportunities.

“This scheme will deliver that vital link between child, school and the myriad of associated careers. There will be a cutting edge web portal that will not only communicate opportunities to children but in time will deliver a vibrant, fresh thinking tranche of new blood into our industry.”

The key is to learn from successful and popular career websites such as those run by the British Army and the NHS. The army has transformed its profile in recent years with hard-hitting recruitment drives around brand awareness and emotional engagement. Using online campaigns, social media and direct response television advertising, the army manages to get existing soldiers to communicate with potential graduates. This is all about reinforcing the notion that the army is a first class trainer and developer where young people will pick up vital life skills.

The Careers in Farming scheme will adopt a similar approach using people with an industry background to go into schools to excite teenagers and dispel myths about agriculture as a low-tech, low status industry. It will be reporting shortly on its full research findings and on progress in launching a website.

How you can support this initiative

Put yourself forward as a STEMNET (science, technology, engineering or maths) ambassador to go into schools and motivate the next generation

Provide funding to help get the initiative off the ground

Think about offering real work experience opportunities in your business

Communicate the interest and excitement you have for your career choice to others starting out

Offer your skills to help progress the website and other promotional activity

Develop ideas on what you can do in your region

• Contact Georgina Corbett on 020 7566 8717 or emailgeorgina.corbett@bitc.org.uk

Could you become an ambassador for farming?

Only 50 or so people in agriculture are serving as STEMNET ambassadors using their backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and maths to excite children about farming careers. Several thousand volunteers are needed to join the scheme in the future if the image of the industry as a positive career choice is to improve.

The STEM Ambassadors Programme supports the government’s Business, Innovation and Skills Plan and enables teachers to make links between their curriculum and how subjects like maths and science are practiced in the workplace, STEM ambassadors must have experience in the four subject areas and volunteer as inspiring role models for young people.

They contribute both to regular lessons or participate in other activities such as clubs, careers days and visits. Each ambassador is registered, trained and checked by the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).