Agriculture @ The Science/History Museum
Well, I was looking at FWi space on my way home from work last Thursday night, (27th Jan) Some great pics by picture ed of the Science Museum. It reminded me of going about 18 months ago with the lads. I've searched back through my blog because I thought I had written about it at the time. Sadly not, so I started to write but didn't quite finish it and post it. Just as well really as I might well have stolen Jane King's thunder. What I had written was very similar. Only now have I had time to re-write the peice and post it
When I went with my family to the Science Museum I was so shocked by what I saw! The lads, aged 5 and 3 at the time, thought it was great as they recognised all the machinery. It was very nostalgic, just how I remember farming as a child. Which is very nice but more of a HIstory lesson than a Science one.!!!
I discussed with my cousin afterwards and he remembered it exactly the same years before when he had come to London with his Ag college.
What I don't understand is that manufactures such as Claas invest in students by sponsering college's to train engineers which they can then employ. Bayer sponser students at the Oxford Farming Conference (thanks to Bayer thats how I managed to go a couple of years ago). It's called advertising. Promotion within the industry. Nothing wrong with that.
The technology used in farming is quite amazing and I'm someone who loves science. GPS control, mapping, controlled environments in buildings, just to start with.
The industry keeps calling for and needs to get more and younger people into the industry. What I feel some have yet to realise is that as more families have exited farming, selling up and retiring, many of these farms have amalgamated and become larger. They are now not always run by families but are "business's" employing people who might have originally had no connection to farming. This demographic is only likely to increase as more families exit Dairy Farming as feed prices increase Pig and Beef margins tighten. Farming needs to attract people from outside the normal farming catchments into the business. This needs to be done at the earliest stage before some other shiny science grips their world.
What we need is an All Industry Approach. So calling "Claas, New Holland, Massey Ferguson, Lely, Lemken, Vicon, Welgar, John Deere, Amazone, Kvernland, Simba, Cousins, Vaderstad, Rabe, Beeson, Accord, Dowdeswell, McConnel, Krone, Kuhn, Teagle to name just some. Building Manufacture's should get involved too. We should be shouting about our High Welfare buildings making farming more efficient. Promoting not only to the public, but the World and more importantly Prospective New (Young as in Children) Farmers. The more companies that join in the less it will cost all.