NFU president Peter Kendall will today tell Prime Minister, David Cameron and major retailers that young people looking to build a career should take advantage of the opportunities in the farming sector.
“Farming underpins the entire food supply chain, and has been a creator of essential new jobs in rural areas,” he will say. “According to government figures, the farm workforce rose by 10,000 people between 2010 and 2011, impressive figures by anyone’s reckoning. This ties in with our campaign Farming Delivers for Britain, which amongst other issues, highlights the tremendous opportunities that farming and the food industry will create for young people in the future as we seek to grow our industry on the back of market demand.”
Speaking at this week’s JSR Farming Conference, Cotswold farmer, and Countryfile TV presenter, Adam Henson said: “Now is a great time for young people to consider farming as a real career. Agricultural colleges are full and there are real opportunities out there.”NFU Scotland believes that new thinking is called for and president Nigel Miller said: “Given the significant number of challenges faced by anyone who is minded to get a foothold on the Scottish farming ladder, we need to be very broad and innovative in our thinking if we are to support them in their ambition.“We are at a crucial period in policy development, we need to get new people into Scottish farming and having a direct route for this group to future proof policy is of value. This group will represent a different generation, they won’t be constrained by traditional thinking and they will be looking to push the boundaries for the long-term good of Scottish farming."
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
