right where to start

well my names Matt asif you havent already guesd by the name and i dont come from a farming background. Id love to go into agriculture and know a great deal about it. i live near a farm. i know the farmer. and would love to go into agriculture or anythink to do with it. So how do i go about the likes of it. the farmer by me told me its great to see i know a fair bit about agri and that i can come down this year and help with the harvest. so i suppose its a start. but where from there. Should i go to agricultral collage and if i do where do i go after?

Thanks 

Matt

hi matt. collage is a good place to go and you could also find a weekend job or something for yourself, something to get you on the ladder so to speak. colleg is one thing, but experience will take you a long way as well, get your qualifications and experiens and who knows where you'll go from there, agriculture needs new young blood to join it every now and then.

 what education level you at Matt? as in secondary school, sixth from college? etc

one piece of advice, try to get as many "tickets" as possible, by that i mean things like telehandler/JCB certificates, basically competence certificates, because if you have these it shows you are capable on machines and will help if you are trying to get part-time/ seasonal work.

Certainly look around for just some odd jobs, even if it's hand work, I mean, you gota start at the bottom n learn the basics to work up to the top. Have to be willing, really put your back into it and have passion, it's not all about the money!

Watch and learn from other farmers/contractors where and when you can, even if it's just basics like, mowing for example, cut the headland/outside, then create an A/B line up the middle, (there's a few ways, thats just mine). Have a look into agri colleges and what they may offer. I started off by moving small bales by hand, watching how the ''ol man'' drives and operates the kit, when I was young n now I'm practically running one half of the business. It takes time but the satisfaction of doing a good job of things is priceless.

Hope this has helped, and best of luck to your hopeful agriculutral future

Hi Matt

My family wern't really farmers either!! what I did was get as much experience on lots of differernt types of farms as i could -often unpaid. then i went to college and did Agriculture up to degree level. also travelling abroad is a great way to get agricultural experience and looks great on a CV. i went to NZ for a year. anyway i now have a tenancy on my very own farm. so it can be done if you work at it for long enough. etnhusiasm is key.

Good Luck !!!!!XX

 thats good to hear, i'm at sixth form at the moment, and my plan sounds a lot like what you actually did, which is encouraging. definitely thinking of going australia or NZ after sixth form, then a uni, e.g. harper adams, then see what happens

 Thats what i want to do go abroud to oz or NZ and do work there

i was talking to my local farmer today and he came from a farming background but didnt want to become one 

but his mum died at a young age and his dad and uncle were getting a wee bit old for the job 

he went to ag collage but he had to work on a farm 12 months before he went to collage to learn the names and all.

The thing thats holding me back is the fact that when im done at ag collage were to go ? working on a local farm yes i could but its not the best pay and id have to live with my parents for life

a tenancy thats also good but theres a list and they also end in somany years time 

thats when i started looking into  forestry its goodish pay and theres a wide range of jobs

Some help would be nice on the job side of things where to go in what direction ?

Cheers and thanks for the help sofar 

Matt.

matt6930:

 The thing thats holding me back is the fact that when im done at ag collage were to go ?

Im sort of in the same situation.

However my dream is to be an agricultural contractor, yes there is a major problem in my plans, money!

but what I plan to do is get qualifications/certificates then work my socks off and save!

then once ive built up enough for possibly some second hand peices of kit, start off small (and get known in the area) working part time, then build up and hope for the best!

hope this shows that contracting is a possible path

agrimania ,matt, down under is the place to go, lots of jobs, and good experience. farms available too.

They have a thing called vendor finance, where a retiring farmer will sell you the farm, but lend you the money to do it, if he trusts you.

log onto www.theland.farmonline.com.au for aussie news