Jess Tilley-Moore: Farming needs people not born into it

I didn’t grow up on a farm. I didn’t inherit one and I definitely didn’t get a tractor key handed to me on my 16th birthday. People like me who are desperate to get into the industry face a lot of barriers.

But despite the obstacles I’ve faced over the past three years, I have my own small flock.

See also: Jess Tilley-Moore – an ag degree alone doesn’t make you a farmer

About the author

Jess Tilley-Moore

Jess Tilley-Moore, 20, works at Lower Drayton Farm, an award-winning farm park attraction in Staffordshire, where she is an educational leader and helps manage the livestock. She also has her own small flock of pedigree sheep.

Read more articles by Jess Tilley-Moore

I came into the industry by accident at 17, when I started a short lambing placement to help with university applications for veterinary nursing. I thought: I’ll give it a go.

I went in completely blind, hoping to get some experience and then move on. Except, one lambing season became two, and weekend work became a full-time job.

I realised that I didn’t just enjoy farming – I wanted a career in it. But many people still think that to be a “proper” farmer, you should have farming running through your veins from the moment you’re born.

Perhaps your surname should already be on a farm gate somewhere. This wasn’t the case for me, but I had a willingness to learn and the stubbornness to keep turning up.

It’s not easy trying to break through barriers. You have to prove yourself, and then prove yourself again and, just when you think you’ve finally proved everything, someone asks: “Does your family own a farm?”

I now have my own registered Greyface Dartmoor flock. It’s not exactly an agricultural empire, but it’s mine.

My sheep have taught me more than any textbook could. They don’t care where I came from. A ewe doesn’t care if your family farmed 500 acres or if your family only ever saw farming on the television.

She cares that you notice when she’s slightly off. A lamb doesn’t care whether you have an agricultural qualification. It cares that you’re there when it needs you at 2am.

Being young, female and from a non-farming background can sometimes feel like arriving at a party where everybody already knows each other.

But our industry needs people who weren’t born into it, just as much as it needs those who were.