People in Ag UK - October 2018 | Issue 4 | Pastures New

PEOPLE IN AG UK OCTOBER 2018 | ISSUE4

pastures

NEW

part of lifeandthecows

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In this issue...

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Welcome

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Josie Hatch - The key is making ag come alive

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Nicola  Cattini - FTSE to Farming

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Column -Â Data collection: inherently important...

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The start of a new journey

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Gressingham graduate Sam is passionate about poultry

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Take a chance on new entrants - Michael Burley

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Brexit in a Tweet

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Recent success

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Closing Remarks

ard! w a n a r o We're up f

Get in touch... piaukeditor@outlook.com PeopleInAgUK @lifeandthecows

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WELCOME

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Welcome back to People In Ag UK! Summer is now behind us and it is starting to feel much more like autumn. The nights are drawing in and I, like many of you, have been going to work in the dark.

Jasmine, owner and founder of Thistles Studio, has been busy making some brilliant new creations ready for autumn, and a link to Jasmine's shop can be found in the magazine description. Make sure you give it a visit, especially if you have any autumn birthdays coming up! I'm still thrilled to be collaborating with Jasmine and look forward to seeing what else arrives in her store before Christmas.

This Autumn Issue is called 'Pastures New' and features people that are currently working in agriculture who don't come from farming backgrounds.

Not coming from a farming family myself I was extremely excited to speak to some passionate and talented individuals who have taken every opportunity thrown their way to get into farming. They are all brilliant and I was very fortunate that they gave up their time for the magazine.

This time next week I will be in Birmingham for the British Farming Awards, where I am a finalist for Digital Innovator of the Year. This wouldn't have been the case without the magazine, and I am honestly so overwhelmed that even in its infancy, people have seen value in the magazine. Words cannot describe how much it means to me to be up for this award, and that brings me on to you guys.

'Brexit in a Tweet' brings you the opinions and predictions for Brexit from Will Evans, NFU Politics and Plaid Cymru.

People in Ag UK is all about people and without the people that feature, I wouldn't have a magazine at all. To all of you that read the magazine, thank you. Keep reading, keep enjoying and keep sharing. You're all brilliant.

This time last week I was in London for the Farmers Weekly Awards, where I was absolutely honoured to be a finalist for the Ag Student of the Year Category. This was won by Alex Dunn from the Royal Agricultural University, and Alex couldn't have been a more deserving winner. Luke Cox was the other finalist for the category, and he is also a brilliant ambassador for British Farming.

New for this issue is a feature with our youngest star yet. 'Tractor Tom' is only 13, and is keen to be involved in all things ag.

Over the next two years People in Ag UK will be following his brand new journey which you can read all about on page 16.

I hope you enjoy our Autumn Issue, and as always, please get in touch via email, Facebook or Twitter if you would like to feature. Best wishes, Emily Hickman Editor

Interview

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Josie Hatch: The KEY IS MAKING AG COME ALIVE

Growing up, Josie always had a love of animals big and small; from pet guinea pigs as children, looking after ponies as a teenager and later working with livestock. It was this love of animals that drove Josie to consider a career as a vet.

“I cannot exactly remember when I started wanting to be a vet, I remember when I was very young I wanted to be a Post Man because I loved cars and the thought of driving all day seemed like the best thing! My vet ambition probably started around the time that my interest in horses began, and I started spending my weekends helping at the riding school, I would do anything to help care for the ponies” However, Josie didn't manage to secure the grades needed to study veterinary, and decided to take a different route. "Work experience in nutrition after taking an interest in equine diets cemented my interest in the area and this helped me to choose the right path".

Josie, 26, from Cirencester, completed the Level Three Extended Diploma in Animal Management at Hartpury College, and although the course was often referred to as “bunny brushing” the diploma increased her knowledge of animal health, disease and genetics.

“These things had never been covered in my curriculum before. It taught me how to write an assignment and carry out a literature review – things that are essential when completing a degree. When I started the Animal Science degree at Harper Adams I had some headway over A-level students; such as writing assignments and specific animal science knowledge, but I had some catching up on the modules which covered areas taught in A-level chemistry and biology.”

Josie decided that Harper was the place for her after attending their HEC experience. “The HEC experience at Harper is a weekend where you get a taste of Harper life; you play games that are similar to those played at team socials and the bar life, you get to know your potential fellow peers, and you receive an overview of what to expect from the course you study. I think it is great for anyone wanting to go to Harper, or undecided, because you enter that weekend in the unknown and leave having such an amazing time. I cannot imagine anyone then deciding not to study at Harper!”

YFC...

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Josie has also been involved with Young Farmers from her teenage years, which eventually led to her taking on the role as her club secretary for a year. “I got involved with YFC at 15 when a friend of mine wanted to go. She was a farmer’s daughter whose parents had gone when they were younger and therefore urged her daughter and son to go also.”

“I was in the Cirencester club and took part in everything I could! Cirencester was known for being a big social club; the first on the dance floor at every ball and whilst we never stood chance at stocking judging, we represented the county at the national AGM dance competitions two years running. There weren’t many competitions at rally that we didn’t at least have a ‘bash’ at!”

“I was secretary for a year, which was really fun and made my presence within YFC a bit more prominent, that’s what I love about YFC; you belong.”

Young Farmers also proved to be extremely valuable during her placement year when she moved to Thirsk. “I joined Thirsk YFC in 2014 when I moved to Yorkshire for my placement year, which was the key to making friends in a new location. YFC is definitely one of the best things I have done; I’ve made friends for life, found new friends in a new location, and have so many memories to smile at.”

Placement Scholarship...

Josie spent her placement year on a Scholarship placement with Cargill Animal Nutrition. “Before my placement the only experience with pork was the limited amount that we received in our first two years of study. I applied for the scholarship because I knew that I wanted a nutrition placement and after searching online at companies, Cargill (or Provimi then) seemed like a really attractive option. And of course, the idea of gaining some extra financial help whilst studying was also an additional bonus."

"The biggest opportunities during placement were going to visit the research facilities in the Netherlands; seeing the ‘bigger Cargill picture’ and being able to expand my knowledge of pork production, pig handling and research. One of the best outcomes of the placement was the research I carried out which I then applied during my final year of study. The other two amazing outcomes were; being offered a graduate job and ultimately having the opportunity to relocate to beautiful Yorkshire. But of course it did not come without it’s challenges; working within a global company was something completely new and so adapting to this was sometimes difficult.”

Graduate role. and beyond...

As a result of her performance during her placement, Josie was offered a place on the graduate scheme with Cargill.

6 “My graduate programme covered all three species; pork, poultry and ruminant. Over a three-part rotation I trained in formulations, research and commercial and marketing. Formulations took you through the nutritional requirements of each species, ingredients, farm scenarios and general production knowledge. I then spent five months in the Netherlands carrying out my research project on pork which contained a trial and a literature review. Then finally my commercial project was working within the ruminant team as a commercial member and working on the marketing also.”

After completing her graduate scheme, Josie was offered a job as Marketing and Communications Specialist. "No day is typical and the nature of my work really depends on what projects are going on."

"If we have new products which are being launched I can be working with graphic designers on all the materials for that, if we have press releases upcoming I will be editing these ready for publication, I organise the shows and events we attend, I work with the commercial teams to produce all required supporting materials and promotional items for them, I work with customers on their marketing requirements, and I also organise the @ProvimiRuminant Twitter account.

The list goes on!"

'My long term career plan at Cargill is to progress within the European team. When you work for a global company the opportunities are so vast and having spent five months in the Netherlands working I really hope one day I can spend time working elsewhere also."

"I love the impact marketing has on products, brand awareness and the fun you can have with it, so whatever I do, I do not want to lose touch with implementing the marketing and seeing the ideas come alive!"

Thoughts on Brexit...

Looking towards Brexit, Josie believes that pig price, labour and disease will be the main challenges for the pig industry.

"The pig price comes in waves but with Brexit approaching it will be interesting to see the effect. We need to market ourselves better; our British pig industry and our high standards are something to be proud of! I think the struggles producers have with labour may be increased, we must make the industry more attractive to work in. Disease is always a risk, but we have a vigilant reporting system and the APHA work tirelessly to determine the cause of death of pigs. We mustn’t underestimate the importance of these organisations".

Encouraging new entrants...

Coming from a non farming background herself, Josie believes that the agricultural industry doesn’t even enter the minds of non-farming young people. "I think they just think about being a farmer and that nothing else is involved. I think it would be really helpful to map the industry to school leavers and to graduates. Showing them all the options available and how large the industry is! I think we need to encourage people in from nonagricultural backgrounds because we need more labour, and whilst it is important to understand the industry it is also nice to get fresh ideas into the industry."

"For example, I imagine that if I could tap into the brain of Coca-Cola’s marketing team for a day and learn about how they do things, our marketing would benefit dramatically. The main challenges with bringing nonagricultural entrants in is showing them what the industry can offer. We need to make it as exciting and as attractive as our competing industries."

For more from Josie, follow @ProvimiRuminant

Interview

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Nicola Cattini: FTSE to farming Somewhere in between getting married and jetting off on her honeymoon, Nicola Cattini, 34, found the time to speak to People in Ag UK about transitioning from working as an Associate Director in London to working full time on her husband Ed’s farm in Cornwall.

Associate director Nicola graduated with a degree in Social Sciences, specialising in Criminology and Social Policy from the University of Kent in 2006. From here, she was introduced to a recruitment firm who were looking for new graduates to join them. Nicola began her career working in recruitment for Chartered Company Secretaries for seven years before moving to work in house for one of her clients.

Within the company, which was a large professional services firm, Nicola helped to run a business which provided corporate governance services to FTSE listed companies such as Tesco and BP. In her role as an Associate Director, Nicola was responsible for sales and people management. Towards the end of Nicola’s career as an Associate Director, she was based in an Exeter office looking after a team of 19 people.

“The environment was very similar to the type of environment in an accountancy or law firm. It was very much a people focussed, office based, corporate environment and culture. The type of clients that I worked for were mainly listed companies. Our job was to help these companies stay abreast of changes in corporate governance and to facilitate good decision making at board level, ensuring they remained attractive to investors.”

“I really loved working as an Associate Director. I was very fortunate to work with ambitious, talented and motivated people, and I really do miss my team.”

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Making the decision to leave her role as an Associate Director was hard for Nicola. “I had done really well with my career and had progressed really high up within the company. I knew early on my job in London and my life on the farm wouldn't be compatible. I did try doing both at the same time, but as time went on knew I had to bite the bullet and make the move full time to the farm.”

When colleagues and friends started to understand they were a lot more supportive, and it definitely made it easier having the support! None of my network of friends and family have any experience of farming.

People are genuinely really interested in it and I found writing the blog a really good outlet.”

Although it was one of the hardest decisions I’v e had to make, by the time it came to finishing my job it was easy to leave, because I had caught the farming bug early on and really missed the farm when I wasn’t there!”

“I have honestly found the transition easier than I thought I would, but the one thing I have found is that farming can be really isolating. Aside from this, the transition has gone well and I am enjoying getting stuck in and learning a lot.”

“Some of my friends thought I was absolutely mad, but my mum and dad were really quite supportive about it, perhaps because they know me better. I definitely had a few people that were asking me if I was sure I was making the right decision.

“A typical day will consist of morning checks of the stock and feeding up. Depending on how the morning goes, we have a coffee and plan the tasks for the day ahead. I’v e been doing quite a bit around the accounts and on social media. We’r e quite active on Facebook and

Instagram, and we are starting to look into selling meat directly.

I have wanted to be fully involved in the whole process, and recently I’v e visited the abattoir.”

“I feel strongly that if you’r e going to produce meat you need to be able to see all parts of the process through. I was so reassured about how they dealt with everything in the abattoir.

The people working there really take a lot of care and pride in their work and everything is done so quickly and professionally. The staff were really good at talking me through everything and although it was difficult, I am honestly so glad that I did it.”

“I’v e also been in to look at carcasses and have had the opportunity to get involved in that. One of the guys at the abattoir is fantastic, he really champions what he does as a profession.

11 He’s allowing us to help when we do our first beef sale, so we will be helping to butcher and package our beef.”

Although Nicola has found the transition to working on farm relatively easy, she admits that it has been difficult to pick up some of the skills needed to work on farm. “It has been quite difficult for me to learn because I’v e had to learn it all on the job.”

“I’v e been learning a lot from Ed and from his mum as well.

Particularly at the start, and even still now I’v e been out of my comfort zone and sometimes even a little scared. Stockmanship has been the hardest thing to learn, particularly calving. I’m hoping to get quite involved in calving this year, which will help me to learn a lot more. What I am quickly realising is that you can’t learn these things from a textbook.

Every situation, every cow and every birth is so different.”

Although Nicola’s office job as an Associate Director was the complete opposite to her new job on the farm, there are some similarities. “One of the things I’v e learnt throughout my career which is standing me in good stead for working in the agricultural industry is to ask the stupid questions.”

“It is so important to take things slowly, and to walk before you try and run. The networking skills that I learnt from my previous job role are going to be so important to me, as it can be isolating!

These skills will be important for collaborating and making connections, and hopefully for connecting with people who I can learn from.”

Nicola is hoping to bring her expertise in business to the farm to help the farm to diversify. “Our first initial diversification project is selling beef directly. Farmers are not very good at promoting themselves, and that really surprised me. I’m hoping to be the outward facing piece to the business here, and Facebook and Instagram are really helping to achieve this.”

“In farming so much is out of your control – prices are so volatile and something like TB can be really restricting. We’r e trying to put as much control as possible back into those variables, and looking at other avenues to help relieve these pressures. We are thinking about possible opening a farm shop in the future, but it is only the very early stages of our journey.”

“The other big thing for us is that I’m passionate and keen to share what I am learning! Farmers are so lucky to live in the landscapes that they live in. Ed and I are both keen to look at ways that we can share this with others, but for us this wont be a case of simply putting up a clamping tent, we want people to understand more about farming too.”

12 Trefrawl Farm, which is nestled away in the parish of Lanreath, East Cornwall, is home to Limousins, Charolais, and Herefords, as well as some cross bred Angus and a few mule crosses which are lambed in the spring and help to maintain the grassland over winter.

I’m new in an existing routine and new into farming as well, so I have a lot to learn. On the whole its been good and its nice to feel like we’r e moving towards a common goal. I used to feel like an outsider but I’m loving being more involved.”

“Having three different breeds of cattle on the farm makes sense to us, as there are separate markets for each breed, but my favourites are the Herefords, one hundred percent! They’r e mine and Ed’s project at the moment and they have the most wonderful temperaments. Especially for me being new to it all, they are so much easier to handle.”

“There isn’t really a complete separation between work life and home life, as the farm is our home. We do try and make time to get off the farm as much as we can, even if it’s just for an hour to go to the beach or to go to the pub for some food. We always put some time aside for EastEnders too.”

Fortunately, Nicola is finding that working together as newly weds isn’t too challenging.

“There are moments where it does get testing. As a newer person coming on to the farm Ed has found it hard.

Being so active on social media, Nicola follows a number of fantastic accounts. “There are so many brilliant people on social media. Some of my favourites are perhaps not your typical farmer but talk about some interesting topics. Millie Diamond (@piglet2plate) is a food writer and is quite controversial and topical. I like her because she’s so opinionated on subjects that I’m passionate about..”

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Kilsunny Herds (@kilsunny_herd) are another account that I love. I love what they’re doing and they are a brilliant herd, and are also very passionate people. Finally, Matt Chatfield, (@thecornwallproject) does a brilliant job of promoting Cornish meat products. He’s great at shouting about farming, and I have so much time for people that champion farming.”

As far as future challenges for farming and the beef industry are concerned, Nicola believes that ultimately it all comes down to perception.

“The general public perception of the industry is important. The Vegan and Vegetarian movement is very noisy and I do think that it creates a lot of misconception about what happens on farms, which of course creates challenges.”

“I also read recently that there is some development with ‘cultured meat’ or ‘clean meat’ – I’m interested to see where it goes, it is definitely something to watch! It seems to have some real benefit but at the same time it is so completely alien. If it does take off it will have an impact!”

“Finally Brexit will be a challenge, but I’m not well qualified enough to give an opinion. It’s definitely more of a reason for farmers to connect more locally. I think people are more driven to buy locally now and its something that farmers should try to capitalise on.”

Nicola is a firm believer that new entrants from non farming backgrounds are massively important. “In any industry it is important to have people from other backgrounds to come in and work. They provide constructive challenge for the industry, and ask why things are done a certain way, which people in industry often don’t take the time to think about.”

“It is difficult for me to think of ways to encourage people from a non-farming background into agriculture, because my transition happened so much by chance. Initiatives like FaceTime a Farmer are important, anything that will inspire young people and open them up to what we do is a brilliant start.”

“I think that we could promote more role models in the industry, and this might inspire more people to make the move. Additionally, it is not always clear what the job opportunities are in agriculture! There is such a lack of knowledge for people from non-farming backgrounds and it needs addressing. For example, who knew that agronomy was a job! I think a lot more could be done to make the job opportunities and employment prospects more transparent.”

“In my old role corporates were constantly being asked to show that they were acting ethically, were sustainable and were being transparent in their operations. This rings true for farming as well and you can already see these values becoming more of a focus for farms in the future too.”

Follow Nicola on instagram @mylifewithcows and read her blog at www.niccattini.com

Column

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Data collection: inherently important, but how are we implementing it?

By Emily Hickman

Being back in the poultry industry after spending a year away finishing my degree is everything I thought it would be and so much more. It’s full on and fast paced and dynamic as ever, and it’s a lot more work than I remember – that’s rose tinted glasses though I guess…

One thing that has always amazed me about the poultry industry is the sheer volume of data that we have at our disposal.

We weigh birds weekly to monitor growth before depletions, and we weigh our birds the day before they’re caught. We have data on parent flocks and egg ages, hatchability, mortality, growth, shed temperatures, the list is endless.

We are brilliant at recording data, and I’d even go as far as to say that we are probably the best sector within agriculture for data recording. Our data is used effectively by the planning departments to plan birds through the factory, but how often do we as farmers look at our data and use it to improve our farms?

The growth of a broiler is rapid. Within six to seven weeks we have gone from day old chick to a chicken on a supermarket shelf, and there is so much to get right in that very short time frame.

This is something that I’m still learning.

We have set tasks to get done every day, and often don’t have the time to stop and think about how the data that we have can be implemented to improve our efficiency. This is something that we should be doing.

Saving a tonne of feed, hitting target weight a day earlier, or marginally improving FCR can hugely help improve a farms bottom line, and in the uncertain times that we will be facing with Brexit, every penny will count.

This isn’t only the case for us in poultry though, it’s true of all sectors of agriculture.

If you’re taking the time to collect data on your farm, take the time to analyse the data, and formulate a plan to implement your findings.

It might be a small change, but when it comes to reducing costs and driving efficiency, every little helps.

@lifeandthecows

FEATURE

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The start of a new journey NEW!

For most children it is highly likely that their first word will have been either ‘Mummy’ or ‘Daddy’, but for thirteen year old Thomas Leaney, from Chester, this was not the case. ‘Tractor’ was the first word that Tom ever said, and he hasn’t stopped talking about them since.

Despite not coming from a farming family, most of the contractors in the area have known Tom, or Tractor Tom to his friends, for a long time as he has been out with his parents watching contractors work on fields since being a toddler. Currently, Tom spends much of his free time out and about with a local contractor to gain some real experience of machinery.

Tom’s parents, who work in banking and retail, have done everything they can to encourage his passion, including spending many family holidays on working farms. Tom’s mum, Suzie, recalls that “as a toddler, Thomas loved to wear his John Deere overalls and would often refuse to take them off, even when it came to bedtime!

He would always wear his overalls to non-uniform day at primary school, and one year he even wore them to the Easter parade!”

Tom, who is currently in year 9 at school, has dreams to one day own his own farm and to have his own contracting business.

His passion for Agriculture has been noticed by his school, and by the well-known Agricultural College, Reasheath, which has lead to his secondary school allowing him a ‘day release’ from school for one day a week. Over the next two years whilst Tom is attending both secondary school and Reasheath College, People in Ag UK will be following Thomas’s story as he begins his journey in Agriculture.

We are excited to watch Thomas learn and cannot wait to see what the future brings for him!

Interview

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Gressingham graduate Sam is passionate about Poultry Farming is not a glamourous job as many will tell you, but poultry is perceived to be the least glamorous of all sectors within agriculture. This hasn’t stopped Sam Whitmore, 23, from Suffolk, pursuing a progressive career within the sector, with specialist poultry processor Gressingham Foods.

Although he doesn’t come from a farming family, Sam is now in his second year of the Gressingham Graduate Scheme, and is successfully running a free range turkey farm after receiving a promotion in September.

“I first began working on farms at the age of 15 when I started working on a pig farm in Suffolk. At the time the farm was finishing 2000 pigs. My responsibilities on the farm involved checking the stock, mucking out the passages and applying a fresh straw bed for the pigs.”

“What began as a weekend job soon developed into a passion for the agricultural industry and I moved on to work on an arable farm, preparing the grain stores, corn carting and hedge cutting.”

“Looking to develop my knowledge and further my career I decided to attend Harper Adams University in 2013. This was an excellent experience which improved my education, allowed me to meet valuable friends and contacts and steered and certified my direction towards the poultry industry.”

Harper Adams has close links with the poultry industry, and the university receive a number of scholarships from the British Poultry Council each year. These scholarships greatly help to fund the cost of studying and also provide students with an industrial placement year in the poultry industry, with many students receiving offers to return to the various companies as graduates.

“I was fortunate enough to be one of the successful applicants for the Gressingham Foods placement where I spent the year working across the business and learning about the entire supply chain. This involved short three to six week periods working in the hatchery, with duck breeders, commercial ducks and in the factory.”

18 "In addition to these shorter placements, I worked brooding and finishing turkeys as well as rearing free range geese and ducks. I was working with the staff and managers sampling all of the day to day jobs associated with poultry production.”

“I enjoyed my placement so much I continued throughout the summer and towards the end I was responsible for setting up and brooding a flock of turkeys.” After a year on placement, Sam returned to Harper Adams to complete his final year of studying, and he graduated from the university with a 2:1 in BSc (Hons) Agriculture.

After graduating Sam returned to Gressingham as a Graduate Agricultural Manager, which saw him placed on one of the company’s large commercial duck farms as an assistant manager.

“We were brooding and finishing anywhere between seventy and eighty thousand ducks every six to seven weeks. It just depended on the specification of the bird that was required.”

“I enjoyed working on one of the larger farms, as it allowed me to develop my practical skills. Here, I learnt to drive tractors with straw choppers, telehandlers and Weidemanns.”

“At the same time I learnt the skills associated with the planning and day to day management of the farm such as managing feed orders, hitting target weights and people management.”

This has all prepared Sam for his new role as a farm manager, and he is currently finishing free range Bronze Turkeys in preparation for Christmas.

19 Gressingham have supported Sam throughout both his placement year and during his time on the graduate scheme, providing essential training to further Sam's skills. The acquisition of these skills will stand Sam in good stead to progress throughout the fast paced company in the future, as already proved by his recent promotion.

Attracting new talent into the poultry industry is challenging, and with a considerable amount of labour in the poultry industry originating from over seas, there is concern about labour once Britain leaves the European Union.

Changing public perception of the poultry industry will be key to attracting new entrants for the future, and Sam is optimistic that this can be achieved.

“I believe that public perception can be influenced by improving people’s knowledge of the industry. Educating children and including more poultry and agriculture content within their school curriculums will create awareness from a younger age.”

“I personally had not considered the poultry industry until my time at university, however early exposure of opportunities and careers would probably generate more interest within the sector.”

“As technology and infrastructure within the sector improves, the requirements and technical ability of staff will have to keep up with the pace of change. This in turn could attract new talent as perceptions of the poultry industry are changed from traditional manual work to technically advanced roles.”

"I think the other thing to consider with Brexit, alongside the potential issues with labour, is welfare standards. The UK has some of the highest standards of animal welfare in the world, and this rings true in the poultry sector."

"These standards will need to be upheld once we leave the EU, to safeguard the production of poultry and to safeguard the products that consumers are purchasing."

"The government need to ensure that cheap poultry produced to lower welfare standards does not have a competitive advantage over British poultry that we are proud to produce to the highest standards of welfare and food safety".

interview

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take a chance on new entrants

For most children if you ask them what they want to be when they grow up they will probably give you a different answer every day of the week until about the age of 15 or 16. Michael Burley, 23, from the Rhondda Valleys in South Wales only ever wanted to be involved in agriculture, despite not coming directly from a farming family and this is because of early exposure to farms as a child.

“When I was younger we would go and visit family which was when I was first exposed to farms. Ever since then I’ve had the desire to be involved in the Agricultural industry, it has always been my career aim”.

“I worked on a hill and upland farm from the age of 16, which allowed me to get involved with all aspects of harvest, sheep and cattle work.”

“It was a local farm to me, and over the years I have developed a really good working relationship with the owners.”

“I’ve been really fortunate that the owners have allowed me to train up my sheepdog, Twigg, manage my own flock of sheep and take on the responsibility of calving the cows on the farm whilst working full time elsewhere.”

Katie , s n o i t a ul Congrat

21 “Currently, I’m working on a beef and sheep farm, near Bridgend, where we are running 1000 Welsh Mountain ewes and mules and 30 suckler cows, plus replacements.”

“I'm responsible for the day to day animal husbandry and silage making. I’m also responsible for the work experience students, as they report into me, and I look after the EID recording during lambing.”

“It’s a very varied role, but I really enjoy it. Managing people is something new for me, but it is great to watch the students learn and challenge themselves."

Michael realises the importance of having people from non-farming backgrounds working in agriculture, and thinks that more could be done by schools to encourage children to consider agriculture as a career option.

“From a personal point of view, there were not any students from a farming background in my school, and at the school we had very little interaction with any aspect of Agriculture.”

“It was only due to my exposure to farming through family connections that I became involved with the industry.”

“The uptake of social media since my school days has really emphasised the importance of farming to the wider public and Agriculture does now feature much more frequently.

Reaching out to students through social media, school trips, career talks, or fundamentally showing off our industry to them is the only way to get people from non farming backgrounds involved.”

Although it is important to attract new talent and new ideas, Michael also recognises that the seasoned professions of our industry have a lot to offer new entrants. “As the average age of farmers increases, the potential to lose out on experience and knowledge from them also increases. If there isn't a younger generation to gain these expertise, then what sort of shape would our UK Ag industry be in?”

It can be challenging to get started in agriculture, and Michael believes that opening a farm up to a complete beginner is hard.

22 “The hardest challenge for those from a non farming background is for someone to take a chance on them. To open their farms to a work experience student and nurture their progression is an investment that not many farmers are willing to make.”

“I was very fortunate that my employer took a chance with me. But it has to be a reciprocal relationship. If an employer offers you the opportunity to work at their business you have to have a strong work ethic, be committed, willing to learn and honest.”

There are a number of things that new entrants have to offer the agricultural industry and new approaches and new ways of thinking are one of the most valuable assets they have, Michael believes.

“People from a non farming background are fresh to the industry. They are open to alternative methods of doing the job whilst others are often more set in their ways.”

“They have a wider connection to the public so they potentially are in the best position to promote the industry and to explain to the public how we produce the food our nation eats.”

“Without taking credit away from people who are from farming backgrounds, we have a point to prove that we are equally as good to get involved in the industry and I’d argue that we can be seen as more pro active in order to achieve our career goals.”

“My advice to anyone looking to get into farming would be pretty simple. Work hard and don't give up. One day it will all work out and the effort will be worth it. I'd say, don't be too hard on yourself, making mistakes is how you learn. Accept it, fix it and learn from it.”

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“Brexit is arguably the biggest change to UK Agriculture we will experience in our generation. Free Trade with the EU provides a major outlet for many of our commodities and this needs to continue.”

“The alternative is to find a way to get the UK government to promote greater self-sufficiency and markets that are further afield than the EU. We cannot put UK agricultural products at a disadvantage to imports that are cheaper and of lower welfare standards. These alternatives are the biggest challenges we face.”

“New entrants need to be entrepreneurs. They need to see a gap in the market and exploit it. Find ways to diversify and produce income away from primary commodities. Skills and knowledge of this nature will offer opportunities to new entrants.”

Outside of work, Michael is heavily involved with Young Farmers, and has been a member of Maendy YFC in the Glamorgan County for the past two years. Currently Michael holds the position of club secretary.

BREXIT in a tweet

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Brexit opinions and predictions from different agricultural industries, in 240 characters or less... I didn't vote for Brexit & believe it's one of the biggest mistakes the UK's ever made. However it's happened & we now have to get on with it & hope policy makers can get us a positive outcome in trade negotiations. We're battening down the hatches here & preparing for a storm!

@sandyofipswich asks what's the point of an #AgricultureBill which gives @michaelgove powers to encourage and enforce the highest possible environmental, health and animal welfare standards if we just end up importing food from countries whose standards we can't control.

Westminster will today push ahead with the #AgricultureBill despite it containing no guarantees for post-Brexit farm funding & trampling over our devolved powers. Our MPs tabled this amendment to halt the passage of the Bill. We stand with our farmers & rural communities

Use the hashtag #BrexitInATweet  for your chance to be featured in the next issue of People in Ag UK!

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RECENT SUCCESS

Jacob brings Young Farmer of the Year title home to Wales

The Young Farmer who was "shocked" but "chuffed" to have won the award, took to Twitter to thank well wishers, saying "Thank you everyone for all the kind messages of congratulations they mean a lot!

Perhaps the most exciting category is Focussing his efforts into cutting the 'Young Farmer of the Year' award costs and improving financial return, Absolutely chuffed to bits to have which was sponsored by RSPCA Jacob supplies Sainsbury's through been able to bring this home! Think I am still in shock".

Assured.

Dunbia on a Wales Young Farmers contract.

For more from Jacob, follow his Winning the title for 2018 was (AGE) twitter account @Jacob_cwmrisca year old Jacob Anthony, from Cwm Risca Testament to his livestock skills, Farm, Bridgend. more than 80% of Jacob's lambs finish at the correct specification to tions a l u t a r g Jacob impressed judges through his receive a bonus.

Con diversification projects and with his keen attitude to learn.

The Farmers Weekly Awards is one of the most anticipated dates in the farming calendar, and this year was no exception.

Jacob, who is a 5th generation farmer, farms 1,000 Llewyn cross Texel breeding ewes alongside 300 cattle over 283ha of land.

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Closing Remarks

This has been a particularly special issue of People in Ag UK for me. It is challenging to challenge the status quo and to try something new, and venturing into the world of agriculture if you're not from a farming background can be daunting.

Thankfully, there are so many opportunities that can be taken advantage of for new entrants, and opportunities should never be overlooked.

As ever, I am so thankful to the five fantastic people that featured in the Autumn Issue, 'Pastures New', and truly admire their passion and drive to succeed.

These aren't people that will let anything get in the way of their ambition.

Thanks for reading, and we will see you again in January for our first anniversary issue!

Emily Hickman EDITOR