Trusting young people can get them back to the land

Although he still had control of day-to-day running, there
was a certain level of trust, and the farm was run with large, modern machinery.

There were some problems, and this meant a very steep learning curve for the three of us, but it also meant that, within weeks of starting there I, for example, was trusted to start learning to spray with a 20m self -propelled sprayer.

Why is it that farmers today are unwilling to trust youth as well as experience?

Is it perhaps a fear that, while not having the same knowledge of the land the farmer has farmed for generations, a reasonably intelligent person can pick up things they have taken years to master in a matter of weeks – a blow to their egos, perhaps?

The problems farmers are having encouraging young people into agriculture have nothing to do with the
government, or anybody else for that matter – farmers have no one to blame but themselves.