Jon Watt: Don’t shut away the next generation in the farm office
© Jon Watt The role of a young person on a farm years ago typically started with rolling and harrowing, gradually progressing up the jobs as they were trusted more.
Nowadays, said young person comes home from college or university, and their ability to use a computer (or any kind of technology) is spotted, like a caveman’s ability to make fire – and suddenly they’re condemned to the office.
I was chatting to a friend about what they thought of their combine. His answer, in summary, was “Dad has never let me drive it”.
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This is someone in their late twenties. That’s an opportunity missed, not just to learn, but to build agency within the business. It only makes transitioning the farm to the next generation harder.
A dairy farming friend up north came home from university about four years ago. She’s clever, capable, and keen as mustard, but often gets given all the farm’s paperwork because she’s good at it.
At the same time, she’s often told she “does no work” and just “sits in a nice comfy office all day”. In reality, she would be as capable as anyone on a tractor.
Farmers need to trust the next generation to get on with it.
They’ll make mistakes, almost certainly, but that’s how people learn. It’s also what keeps us excited, interested and invested in the businesses that we may be asked to run in the future.
If the pay is bad, the hours are long, and the only task is being shoved in an office all day to do jobs such as Red Tractor paperwork, it’s no surprise young people look at farming and think “not for me”.
I don’t say this as a criticism. I consider myself very fortunate to have been put on tractors, trucks and combines at a young age.
I also passionately believe agriculture is the best career option available for a young person, and I want anyone who gets involved to not only thrive, but to enjoy themselves.
So next time you dismiss the youngster, remember who you’ll need to set up the wi-fi and give them some interesting tasks too.
