Will’s World: Everybody’s free (to wear hi-vis)
Will Evans © Lee Boswell Photography With apologies to Baz Luhrmann and his 1996 song, “Wear Sunscreen”, some advice for new ag students.
Ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2026, wear hi-vis. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, hi-vis would be it.
See also: How outside help can smooth the path for farm business admin
The benefits of hi-vis have been proved by safety experts. Whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience; I will dispense this advice now.
Don’t worry if everyone around you appears to have their life and career mapped out. Some of the most interesting people I know still don’t at the age of 50, and many of us never will.
Don’t lean too far one way or the other in your politics. Read, listen, learn, formulate your opinions, and act. In an increasingly polarised World, we need individuals who can bring people together, not drive them apart. Perhaps that’s you.
Be a good timekeeper. There are few good excuses for tardiness.
It doesn’t matter how many years your family have been farming. Some of the best farmers I know are first generation. They have a thirst to succeed.
You don’t need all the answers
Ask whoever you think is the prettiest girl or handsomest boy in the room out on a date. You never know if that one question will change your life for the better in every conceivable way imaginable. It did for me.
Make your bed every day (and change the sheets occasionally – your partner, whether long-term or temporary, will be grateful).
Get involved with industry leadership programmes. The boost to your skills and confidence will be immeasurable, and the time commitment will pay back in spades.
Drive safely. Speeding, or driving under the influence isn’t cool or clever, it’s just stupid.
Run, cycle, swim, go to the gym, practice yoga, join a team, play a musical instrument; any of these things is good. Agriculture can be a high-pressure industry; its problems with this are well documented. You’ll need something to get away from it regularly to help your mental health.
Learn about business. The romance of family farming is part of what we do, and should always be cherished, but if you can’t make a profit, there won’t be a family farm at all.
Appreciate the splendour and glory of nature and do all you can to protect it.
Don’t worry what the neighbours think. They’ll secretly wish that they had the guts to try something different. Don’t worry about what the neighbours do, not everyone needs to start silaging/combining/turn out their cows at the same time.
Try to understand your parents and maintain a strong relationship with them – they want the best for you.
Collect people, not possessions
Learn to cook, with as high-quality ingredients as you can afford. It’s incredibly satisfying, and one day you might have a family to feed.
The friends you make at university will become surrogate family, bridesmaids, best men, and godparents to your children. When you meet up with them in future years, you’ll feel temporarily young again. This will inevitably get you in trouble, but it’ll be worth it.
Celebrate occasions. Birthdays, anniversaries, achievements, or just being with your best friends on a Wednesday afternoon with few responsibilities.
Life is a series of these precious moments. Try your best to be fully present in them; they go by so very quickly.
Read Farmers Weekly. Especially the back page.
Beware of people offering unsolicited advice. They’re almost always hopeless charlatans who fail at life far more often than they win, and categorically do not practice what they preach.
But trust me on the hi-vis.
