Opinion: Farming has training problems, not hiring shortages
© JeanLuc/Adobe Stock We talk regularly about the problem of insufficient young people coming into agriculture and horticulture.
A recent report from the School of Sustainable Food and Farming at Harper Adams University, commissioned by Arla Foods, has recommended increased promotion of farming careers and the creation of more entry points into the industry.
I went to Lamma recently and, let me tell you, it was heaving with youth.
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Young men – with their mullets, polo belts and spatial disregard – and young women dressed either immaculately, like they were off to a horse event, or more casually, like they had a stable to muck out.
There were absolutely loads of them. The fact they were at a trade show in January shows spirit and ambition.
So, our problem is not a shortage of young people. The problem is that we aren’t doing the right things for the ones we’ve got.
Rather than just dragging in more new entrants, why aren’t we putting thought, time, effort and money into turning the young people that we already have into highly productive professionals?
If we were serious about developing our workforce and offering progressive, financially rewarding careers for them then the gravitational forces of economics would do the rest.
First, we mustn’t sell them farming as a career without acknowledging commercial reality.
Land is expensive and in short supply. It takes a lot of capital to run a business.
Only a small percentage of the people entering the farming industry will ever run their own farms.
Food from abroad will continue to be cheap and only farms that are internationally competitive or have a point of difference can provide any hope of advancement.
Worse than this, the world is dominated by the wealthy and multinational corporations who hold power over the whole system.
So individuals need skills that give them professional status and the power to negotiate their terms and value in the workplace.
A further complexity is that automation and artificial intelligence are going to keep changing our job descriptions.
As the roles for humans become more specialised, the workforce of the future will need critical thinking, the ability to create value, and adaptability.
In such a fast-changing environment, training won’t last a lifetime; it won’t even last a decade.
The farming industry needs to step up and start creating job opportunities that people actually want
We will need to embrace the concept of continuous personal and professional development.
Agricultural education institutions need to evolve quickly.
A student who has to pay for their own education needs and deserves a lot for their money.
Our colleges need to keep raising their game.
We need to reduce the fragmentation and factionalism in rural education, training and accreditation, which not only look increasingly inefficient and self-indulgent, but also aren’t capable of delivering ambitious national outcomes from their individual silos.
Most of all, the farming industry needs to step up and start creating job opportunities that people actually want.
Farmers need to stop thinking selfishly about their own needs and should start collaborating with one another to create temporary work placements that provide a dynamic career ladder offering experiences and learning.
Recruiting young people into the industry is an easy cry, but the task of building a capable and dynamic workforce is harder and falls to all of us.