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12
Dec
420 
0 

Farming – Change the Perception

12 Dec 2013-420 -0

Agriculture must tread carefully in its bid to attract new entrants to ensure it does not undervalue and trivialise the incredible amount of hard work and education required to be success in the industry.

Agriculture is such a catch all term for a huge range of very specialist professions, yet from the outside the perception is the drip fed image of the village idiot on a tractor or the floppy haired Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in his cable knit.

As an industry agriculture continue to pander to this image because it’s media friendly and easier than finding out and explaining the real demands of modern agriculture.

If you attract a new generation from outside the agricultural community, drawn by a lifestyle and job that has been promised to them by misleading images, they will -

A.        Be disappointed

B.        Not be the right people to fill the jobs that really need to be filled – the highly skilled  scientists, managers and the grafters.

If someone is serious about a career in agriculture and they are ambitious then they should be encouraged to approach it with the same attitude you would if you wanted to become a vet.

Go out, get educated, get experience, work for someone else and slog, expect some more exams and slog again –  maybe after a while (several years), a vet might get lucky and be offered a partnership if you’re a farmer you might, just might, be able to afford a farm.

I have worked with in farms at every level and have recently moved onto new project in a new industry and what have I learnt? – Agriculture needs to be more professional in its attitude to attract the best; free passes and hollow promises with fluffy images of the good old days undermine the industry.

 

Will Wilson is the owner of the Young Farmers Forum, the only dedicated forum to young farmers in the UK. Please have a look.

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