New farm manager apprenticeship standard – have your say

Farmer views are wanted on a proposed assistant farm manager apprenticeship standard that is being developed by a cross-industry group.

The level 4 apprenticeship has been developed by the Agriculture and Horticulture Apprenticeship Trailblazer Group (see box) to suit a cross-section of businesses.

The group is made up of farmers and other stakeholders responsible for the development of agricultural apprenticeships in England.

See also: Survey reveals farm managers salaries bonuses and perks

It is supported by the AHDB and chaired by NFU member Richard Longthorp.

The group wants to test that the standards meet the needs of a broad range of employers through the survey, which opened for views on 25 November and will close on 31 December.

The NFU said it was vital that all aspects of farming and horticulture took part, with the views of employers especially important to ensure that the new Level 4 apprenticeship met the needs of industry.

It is hoped the apprenticeships will bring in new talent from outside agriculture and develop existing staff into higher technical roles, an NFU spokesperson said.

Trailblazer Apprenticeships are available in England and aim to combine technical knowledge, learned from a training provider, with on-the-job training.

Every stage of a product’s lifecycle will be covered, from seeds or breeding, through to farmgate sales or supply to a customer.

The role will be responsible for the day-to-day management of productivity, environmental business objectives, industry benchmarks and performance indicators. 

This would ensure the apprentice was a fully competent employee by the time they qualified, the spokesperson said.

Example roles for a qualified apprentice include:

• Assistant enterprise manager
• Agriculture enterprise manager
• Assistant estate manager
• Assistant farm manager
• Assistant horticulture production manager
• Production manager
• Trainee farm manager.