Opinion: Training is vital to a successful ag sector in Scotland
© Adobe Stock “The best laid schemes o’ mice an men gang aft agley,” wrote Robert Burns as he ripped through a mouse’s nest with his plough.
I wonder what the poet and tenant farmer Rabbie would have applied for in his Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS) application? Can you fit GPS and auto-steer to a Clydesdale and plough?
The FFIS, albeit well intended, will go “aft agley” (“often wrong”, to those not versed in Scots).
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With application numbers well into the thousands, and given the grading system for applicants, as well as the paltry sweetie money allocated to the project, only a lucky few will get their desired items.
Will the toys and gadgets being pushed by the scheme help deal with the true issues faced in Scottish agriculture?
Focusing on rewarding active farming and financing long-term infrastructure would be preferable to the lottery of winning funding for trinkets.
Our agricultural policy has been stuck in the doldrums for years, with flock and herd numbers dropping and grain prices stuck on a low.
The pace of change and events in the industry often overtakes and makes obsolete schemes concocted by civil servants.
However, before I get too cynical, there are excellent schemes not getting the recognition they deserve – such as the Lantra Scotland-delivered Next Generation Practical Training Fund and the Women in Agriculture Practical Training Fund.
They cover a range of courses, although they aren’t perfect and I had to push to get a sheep dipping course included in the course list. However, 100% funding isn’t to be sniffed at.
There’s also the Future Forester training fund which (dare I say it?), if you are “creative” in your application, could secure funding for courses beneficial to agriculture. But you didn’t hear that from me.
Hats off to the “Yellow Wellies” Farm Safety Foundation, which has also provided 100 free bursaries for ATV training. Let’s hope this is broadened out further, so hopefully funding can be found to support this.
Even the Loch Lomond National Park Authority has surprised me, stepping up to deliver partially funded training in deer management certificates, to those culling on or nearby the national park.
I’m no psychic, but I can see a point in the near future when culling deer, even to avoid agricultural damage, will require certification.
It’s positive to see funded training provided by government, charities and local authorities.
Scotland has a long history of investment in education. In today’s world of continued pressure for industry qualifications and CPD points, removing financial barriers to training is fantastic.
Additionally, with increasing pressure from insurance bodies and HSE for proof of competence when using all manner of machinery or chemicals on farm, the development of schemes to train individuals and deliver qualified persons into the labour market is crucial for businesses to meet legislative requirements.
Access to free or partially funded rural related skills can attract more youngsters and those changing career to our industry. However, the lack of publicity of these schemes makes me wonder how hard they are being pushed in schools and colleges.
Apart from the continued BPS in Scotland, the other agricultural schemes on offer may be a mixed bag. But just like Robert Burns, we must keep ploughing on.