#STUDENTFARMER - January 2014

THE DARE TO BE DIFFERENT EDITION

JANUARY 2014

STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD Make it in farming – your own way

PLUS

WHY SHEEP ARE ACE JOBS FOR EVERYONE! SUPERSIZE VS SUPERMINI SKINNY JEAN GARDENERS FARMING WITHOUT LAND OR MONEY

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CONTENTS 05 making it without land or capital 08 industry careers 13 why wait?

15 Matt Sharp 19 Skinny style 22 once in a lifetime 26 FIND YOUR OWN PATH 29 Supersize vs Supermini 32 ewe’ll love it 37 Travelling with farming 40 DIARY DATES 42 Poster In our last edition we tackled all the stereotypes people have about farming. Now, we’re going a little bit further. We want to celebrate inventiveness, risk-taking and quirkiness. We’re big fans of those who decide to do things a little bit differently.

There are literally hundreds of different careers in the food and farming industry – just because you may not fancy being a farmer, doesn’t mean you can’t be part of our gang.

The industry is big but we can guarantee there is a place for you. You’ve just got to find it. You don’t need to change in order to be part of it – like Mark Darcy says in Bridget Jones’ Diary, we like you just the way you are (boys: don’t pretend you haven’t seen it).

This magazine is testament to what you can achieve if you dare to be different. We recently won Front Cover of the Year and came runners-up in Launch of the Year at the PPA IPC awards, which proves it – doing things in your own style pays off. So, who’s with us?

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Published by: NFU, Agriculture House, Stoneleigh Park, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, CV8 2TZ Designed by: John Cottle

Emily Cole Editor of #studentfarmer Email: studentfarmer@nfu.org.uk Facebook: facebook.com/StudentFarmer Twitter: @studentfarmer

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To advertise contact: Alan Brown

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02476 858955 alan.brown@nfu.org.uk

Making it January 2014

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without land or capital It’s not easy making it as a young farmer – especially if you have no money or land. But it’s not impossible either. The only thing is - where do you start? Jez Fredenburgh talks to three young farmers who are proof that hard work and an entrepreneurial spirit can get you into the industry you love, whatever path you choose to take I had to do most assignments in the middle of the night!”

By the time she had five Dexters, she was running out of space. “I decided I had to go into it in a big way or get out altogether,” said Helen. She rented a shed, found some grazing and grew her herd more seriously.

Helen has gradually built her name through word of mouth, food festivals and Facebook, attracting 200 fans in three days.

What about money?

HELEN REEVE So, what’s the job?

Or, in Helen’s case, several jobs. She farms her own suckler herd of 44 pedigree Dexters while working six days a week at a neighbouring dairy farm and one day a week teaching at Easton College. “I’m tired all the time!” said Helen, “but I love what I’m doing, and the jobs keep me in business while I’m growing my herd. If I didn’t pack a lot in I wouldn’t get anywhere - everything I’ve done has helped me with my own herd.”

Helen sells her beef direct to 30 customers and supplies a local cafe, but is aiming to build her stock and customer base. She rents a barn and 15ha of grassland, but would like her own land in the future.

how did you do it?

Growing up, Helen helped her dad at the dairy where he worked and soon decided she was mad about cows. Her parents bought her a heifer at fourteen and she started building her herd. To keep farming, she worked full-time at a dairy farm while studying an HND. “It was pretty hardcore –

Helen’s main investments, other than her herd, have been cattle and fencing. All capital has come from wages, savings, and awards, in particular the Chris Lewis Award and the Norfolk Young Farmers Growing Business Award.

the hardest bit?

“Finding grassland to rent which has a secure long term contract – the big farmers snap it up,” said Helen. Time management is tricky too, which makes it difficult for her to see her friends.

and the best bit?

“I love what I’m doing – I see new animals being brought into the world and I know about their whole lifecycle, from field to fork,” said Helen. “I love the feeling of being the first person in the world up in the morning.

“It’s also good to know I’m doing my bit to get on the ladder, and that if anything were to happen to my jobs, I would still have my own animals.”

Any advice for other wannabe farmers?

“Opportunities don’t fall in your lap – you’ve got to get stuck in. Start by working for other people and if you get the opportunity to have a mentor, take it,” said Helen. “If people know you’re prepared to work hard, they’re more likely to help you,” she added. Helen says a sense of humour is also key to deal with knockbacks.

ifan davies So, what’s the job?

Ifan is a self-employed farm worker committed to one client with 140 Limousin, 800 ewes and over 200ha.

He does all the farm work with one labourer, including all the lambing, calving and feeding. He is on call constantly, and works closely with the farm manager.

He has recently been given the possibility of renting land for livestock. His dream is to start his own farm and he plans on remaining his own boss. “I want to make my own way in the way I want,” he said.

What route did you take?

Ifan always knew his family’s farm wasn’t big enough to support him too, and after studying at Harper Adams he found he needed more experience to get a job.

“Being from a small, self-sufficient hill farm, my agricultural experience wasn’t very good,” said Ifan.

“In most jobs I took over the years, I had a bit of knowledge before starting, but I did them to learn more,” he said.

To gain arable experience he worked in Warwickshire on a beef and arable farm as a general worker, and to expand his livestock knowledge he worked as a stockman for a pedigree herd of Herefords in Herefordshire. When he moved back to Wales to help on

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the family farm, he got a job with an agricultural builder, where he gained practical skills constructing farm buildings, concreting and installing drainage.

But Ifan missed farming and went back to working freelance. He applied for a farm manager position, but a friend got it. However, Ifan’s friend was a vet and on call a lot, so he needed help and employed Ifan.

What about money?

Ifan says he’s been very lucky and hasn’t had to make financial investments other than a few hand tools. “I’ve seen plenty of young people spend years paying back for a large piece of kit,” he said.

The hardest bit?

The last year has been the most challenging says Ifan, as he’s had more responsibility, paperwork and there have been economic pressures, bad weather and the constant threat of bovine TB.

and the best bit?

“I enjoy challenges – they’re brilliant in my opinion. I used to break everything I touched, but it was all learning. Just having the opportunity to learn is fantastic.”

Any advice for other wannabe farmers?

Ifan says it can be very frustrating after graduating. Every job you go for seems to want ‘experience’ and you begin to wonder how you can get it without being given a job.

“Broaden your horizons as much as possible and to try different things,” he advised.

He suggests you need at least two years in a job before you can say you’ve learnt. “Everything comes with time and patience,” he added.

ben martin

what about money?

Ben invested in a tractor and hedgecutter on finance, so he knows what his monthly outgoings are and there are no large upfront costs, but he warns: “If you’re not careful you can put all your money in machinery.”

So, what’s the job?

Ben is self-employed with many strings to his bow. “Farming’s so risky, you can’t put all your money in one pot,” he said.

His company BCM Farm Services does countryside maintenance for a number of farms and estates, and undertakes contract arable work for a client of 700ha. The company encompasses a firewood business, with 80-100 customers. Ben also farms a 32ha tenancy of sugar beet, potatoes and wheat, which he’d like to increase through renting or share farming.

What route did you take?

Ben’s dad and grandad were farm labourers, so going into farming felt like the natural thing. After studying at Writtle College, he spent three years doing seasonal work, became a trainee farm manager, then returned to Writtle to teach.

“I enjoyed it, but I missed day to day farming really badly,” he said.

He became a self-employed farm hand before taking on his current arable client. He invested in a tractor

the hardest bit?

Ben’s first year of tenancy was his most challenging, due to drought. “I didn’t make any money and it was seriously hard work!” and hedge cutter and started doing countryside maintenance.

The firewood business came about by chance. “I was coppicing and doing hedges, when a client let me take the firewood in exchange for pigeon shooting,” he added. He started advertising in shops, newsletters and selling wood locally. Then his tenancy came up. “It was my first big break. A good wage from my contracting client allows me to farm it.”

To promote himself Ben uses Twitter, Facebook and BBC Radio Suffolk, which he is regularly invited on. “I’m quite shameless – any way I can plug things I will!”

And the best bit?

“It’s beautiful – I appreciate everything in front of me,” he said. “I like technology and I like the challenge of trying to get the best out of things.

“I love the freedom of being selfemployed. I work hard, but I’m my own boss.”

Any advice for other young wannabe farmers?

“Grab any experience you can and don’t just go down one path,” said Ben. “Then make yourself known and don’t be afraid to sing your own praises – if you’re known publicly, you’ll get more backing.”

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Don’t fancy being a farmer? Don’t worry – there are loads of brilliant jobs in the industry to choose from...

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Jess Sloss is Red Tractor’s industry communications manager. She’s 28 and when she finished her undergraduate degree she lived under a friend’s dining room table for six months with her house rabbit.

Every day in my job is different. I’m based in London but spend much of my time out and about at shows and meeting farmers.

When I am in the office I spend my time finding out from the technical team what’s happening within the sectors and planning and delivering future communications.

I love the variety. I can arrive at work with a well-formulated plan as to what I need to achieve that day and by lunchtime it can have completely changed. I also love talking to farmers and finding out about what they do.

Not coming from a marketing background, the thing I found the hardest was getting used to all the abbreviations and jargon that is used! The trick is to not be ashamed to say when you don’t understand.

I’m not from a farming family but I’ve worked on farms so I hope I understand the issues facing our members – having an understanding goes a long way.

I finished a postgraduate diploma in agriculture at the Royal Agricultural University in 2013. Before that I worked in the civil service for Acas, after finishing my law degree at the University of the West of England in Bristol.

Sometimes I wish I had gone into agriculture earlier but my law degree and work experience have given me skills I may not have otherwise gained.

I’d recommend a career in agriculture; there are so many different paths you can take. It’s such a vast and varied industry, and there are so many opportunities. The demand for food is only going to increase with the rising population and finding new and innovative methods of production is definitely an exciting prospect.

CHEESEMAKER Philip Farndon recently started an apprenticeship at Lynher Dairies in Cornwall.

He’s 19 and a keen sculler, regularly competing across the South West.

I’ve taken an apprenticeship that will teach me how to become an artisan cheesemaker, producing award-winning cheeses. My job requires me to learn all aspects of making artisan cheese, like adding culture, calcium, rennet to vats, monitoring acidity levels, milling, packing of the curds – everything really.

I chose to take on an apprenticeship because it meets everything I am looking for in a job – I can be creative and work as part of team, while gaining a qualification. Apprentices have a reputation of not being sufficiently academic to attend university, which is not true; it is just an alternative route for gaining further education and a degree. It’s earning while learning.

I knew very little about farming and milking cows before working at Lynher, which goes to show that you don’t have to be from a farming background to work in an industry that relies so heavily on agriculture.

There is a big shortage of skilled people within the sector who are of a similar age to me and the food industry is huge, so I think there will always be job opportunities out there.

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BREEDING PROGRAMME ASSISTANT Hannah Noble enjoyed her placement at Genus Breeding Ltd so much, she returned after she finished her degree.

I run the Cornerstone young bull testing programme and carry out all the allocation of semen each month as well as correspondence with the 3,000 members, taking semen orders and general administration.

I also get involved with the progeny promotions side of the job, photographing progeny of our bulls and representing the business at shows and events. I help out at the bull stud carrying out some lab techniques and health testing bulls.

Further to this I am heavily involved in product development on the beef side of the business, dealing with the calving survey and allocation of young beef semen.

I think my placement year allowed me to prove I am capable of being part of a team and working hard to get any jobs done. I never say no to a challenge and I think they liked that about me.

LAND AGENT Rebecca Parry has had two land agent roles since she graduated from Harper Adams with a degree in rural enterprise and land management.

My first job was a resident land agent on the Nantclwyd estate in north Wales, a traditional rural estate comprising of an in-hand farm, pheasant shoot, agricultural land and residential lettings.

After obtaining my Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors qualification I moved onto Staffordshire County Council as a land agent.

The thing I enjoy most about my job is the variety of work. Each day is different and varies from being out on farms dealing with farmers to being in the office dealing with the financial and strategic side of estate management.

The job entails a huge variety of work such as landlord and tenant matters, rent reviews, tenant rights, investment in farm infrastructure, property repairs, re-letting vacant farms and interviewing prospective tenants.

COMMERCIAL MANAGER As commercial manager for Cornerways Nursery Henry Robertson motivates his team to grow 140m tomatoes every year.

I manage the team that controls all our sales, quality control, packing, procurement and transport. As a team we make sure that everything runs smoothly, from raw materials arriving to supermarket delivery.

What do I like about my job? Everything! The people I work with are young and fun, and we work with a great product. Also, the fresh produce industry is never boring because it’s fast-paced and ever-changing. The hours can be long sometimes but you don’t notice it.

I come from a farming background and have never really considered any path outside of food and farming. I’d really like to run my own business one day, so it’s important to get some decent experience in a management/ business role.

My tip? Work hard and play hard!

#studentfarmer

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As a nutritionist for AB Agri, Heidi Neal develops techniques for feeding farm animals.

AGRONOMIST Matthew Taylor is an agronomist for Frontier, helping farmers to grow high-quality crops.

Agronomy is using scientific knowledge about plants and soil to grow the best possible crops. My role involves dealing with growers on a daily basis, looking at their fields and helping them plan their crops. I offer advice on agrochemicals, fertiliser, seed, game cover and novel solutions like variable rate fertiliser or drilling.

I specialise in potato growing. My job is very satisfying. The best bit is watching a crop growing and knowing that it’s your expertise that helped produce it.

I work outside every day, in all kinds of weathers. The skies in Norfolk are big, the farmers are great to work with and I’m really grateful that I don’t have to spend my life in an office. The hours can be long, but if the sun’s shining it’s not too bad.

I’m really happy with my career. I would like to become a well respected and established agronomist with great working relationships with my customers.

My advice? Don’t be afraid to really push yourself.

TRADER James Maguire is a farm and commodity trader for Nidera UK Ltd, building great relationships which enable him to buy and sell at the right price.

My job has two sides to it; I trade oats, linseed and peas within the company to UK consumers (which have been procured from farmers) while making a profit in doing so. My main role, however, is to speak to farmers and advise them when best to sell their crops to achieve the best returns, and also when to purchase fertilisers and seed for the best deal.

I have to build close relationships with the farmers I buy from, so that I know what they’re planning to grow, when and how much they hope to sell for this year.

I was planning to study forensic science at university after a gap year in the working world. During that year I started working at Nidera in the transport department. I loved the industry, and quickly progressed through the ranks, gaining valuable experience about many aspects of grain merchanting, from execution to market trading, and now finally farm trading. I’d like to move further up the hierarchy of the company - in this job you can move up the ladder pretty quickly.

I’m currently learning how to design animal diets which will maximise animal performance and cost benefits. I research many areas, such as new techniques for feeding and feed ingredients, as well as new products.

I love the enjoyment I get from discovering new ideas. I get to work in cattle, pig and sheep nutrition. This can mean juggling a lot of balls, but I find it exciting and rewarding. There isn’t much I dislike - maybe the very cold days in winter on a farm, -4°c is chilly!

It can be stressful, especially at harvest time when the whole trade is running flat out. But it’s rewarding coming out the other side, knowing you’ve done some good business, and maintained and made new relationships with growers.

If you want to get into agriculture, think outside the box.

There are loads of different opportunities out there, and the majority of them do not involve working directly on a farm. If you aim high and work hard, a career in agriculture can take you further than you ever dreamed!

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DAIRY CONSULTANT Ben Hembrow is the son of a dairy farming family in Somerset and talented cricketer. He now works for Kite Consulting with a specialism in the dairy sector.

I advise dairy businesses in the South West on all aspects of farm management, from cow nutrition to forward planning of budgets. It’s important to have a detailed understanding of each farm’s current technical performance, so I go and see how their cows are performing.

I discuss with the farmer current performance in relation to key performance indicators such as milk sold per cow, mastitis rates for the month and pregnancies achieved. Then we’ll go to the farm office and talk about the diet and any alterations in more detail with how it is likely to change, considering things like silage stocks and forward prices of purchased feed. Other farms might use me for business advice, maybe preparing an annual budget, or looking at potential changes like expansion or monitoring the quarter’s financial performance.

Despite the job being hard work and challenging, I enjoy working with Kite’s great team of consultants who help me provide a great service for our clients. I enjoy the variety and find the role very fulfilling when I see client’s businesses grow and improve profitability due, in part, to the advice I have provided.

There are fantastic opportunities in the dairy industry. You have to be bright, hardworking and dedicated to your work, but if you think you fit this, then dairy consultancy can provide a great career for you. The dairy businesses that want to progress appreciate high-quality, robust advice with the most up-to-date thinking on management to maximise economic performance. The role can be intellectually challenging and gives you a job full of variety.

RURAL SURVEYOR After graduating with a degree in rural enterprise and land management from Harper Adams in 2012, Carys Williams’ passion for rural life led her to a role as a rural surveyor with Rostons Land and Property Specialists.

I was in charge of the Single Payment Entitlement Trading this year, so in March and April a lot of my time was spent on the phone trading. Once that quietened down I could be doing anything from negotiating a compensation claim to submitting a planning application for an agricultural workers dwelling.

The thing I love most about my job is the variety. Every day is different and I am forever learning something new. I also love the contact we have with the rural community.

Aside from everything academic, I did also learn that working in a team and being honest and reliable is important in working life and being part of sports clubs at Harper helped with this.

HOME ECONOMIST Lydia Sackett actually gets to taste food for a living. She’s became a home economist at Campden BRI in Gloucestershire after studying food and consumer studies at Harper Adams.

Essentially I am a food taster, which is my dream job. I work in the department of consumer and sensory science on the product benchmarking team. My main role is to taste and benchmark products and then award them an overall eating enjoyment score by scoring them on their appearance, odour, flavour and texture.

I spent my placement year with H.J Heinz Co. Ltd within the UK soups team. I assisted in the launch of Heinz Squeeze and Stir instant soup and I also worked on reducing the salt in all the classic Heinz soups to meet the Department of Health’s 2012 sodium targets.

BRIGHT CROP The Bright Crop website lets you explore a wide range of roles in the food and farming industry so you can figure out if they’re right for you. Don’t panic if none of the careers on this page sound appealing – there are loads more.

Visit www.brightcrop.org.uk

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Why wait?

Lots of young people choose to farm while they are at university.

Are they mad or onto something? Here they tell us, in their own words, how it’s achievable

It’s hard because it is like leading two different lives. I very rarely have to work out any stress calculations in a beam when I’m at home farming! It’s also hard to get yourself in the right frame of mind after farming all summer to then get back into the studying mindset.

But there are huge positives.

It gives you something to look forward to in the holidays – I love getting all my work done so I’m back in time for lambing. I also get to enjoy the countryside for six months of the year, while living in a city for the other six!

My advice? Don’t take too much on. I want to expand my flock but it is simply impossible to take care of the workload in four days every four weeks. It’s also good to have a contact at either end; I have my dad at home who is handy for shifting the sheep for grazing, or if they break out.

Best bit of advice I could probably give is to keep your phone on. I’m often leaving lectures to answer a call from someone back home looking after the lambs, or wanting straw!

Not only did Huw Davies juggle his degree at Bangor University, work on his family farm and find time for another job – he did it so well he was named Welsh Agricultural Student of the Year. how did he do it?

Firstly it came down to good balance of time between university and working at home and for a fencing contractor. Communication comes next between my father/contractor so there was no confusion or clashes with university lectures or work to be handed in. There is no hiding from the fact that it was difficult and required a lot of hard work and determination. It was also useful and valuable to have the support of a tutor at the university who understood my situation. There comes a point during the three years where you struggle or feel under pressure, but you’ve got to grit your teeth and get on with it. Keeping on top and in control of university work is essential and a good routine of an hour or two each night will take a lot of pressure off revision as the work should be fresh in your mind. Your university work has to come first – terms are short and time does fly – believe me, I don’t know where my three years at Bangor have gone!

Why juggle? 1. Gives you inspiration for essay/dissertation topics. 2. All the theory makes so much more sense when you’re doing it in practice. 3. You make great contacts. 4. It looks good on your CV. 5. Extra cash!

Jess Sloss

There’s nothing like it when you know you’ve worked damn hard while doing your degree! Very satisfying when you still get the grades you wanted.

Emily Wilson

David Hodges, Heriot-Watt University

In my experience, if you want to do what you love, you will find a way to make it work!

Julia Cherrie

Family support is a must! And budgeting your money wisely to support uni as well as work. Choose an area in farming that can be done while you’re at uni and maybe think about living at home and commuting if you’re really serious about farming at the same time – like I do! Being an active member of a YFC gets you socially active with other farmers around you and if you enjoy the dairy side, relief milking or milk recording is a great part time job if you want to gain experience.

Rebecca Kelsall

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Matt Sharp gives a first-hand perspective on farming and surviving third year at the same time...

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hoever reckons students doss about all day has obviously never visited our house.

Third-year workload is pretty heavy and, coupled with calving, general sheep work and relief milking, I’ve never stopped. I now have a beard resembling Shadrach Dingle and a temper like a freshly calved Limousin cow. But things can only get better.

Charles, one of my housemates, is getting so stressed you’d think he was managing half of Russia’s arable area.

Elliot, on the other hand, is taking a more relaxed approach and can be found sitting in his slippers, eating smoked salmon and watching Jeremy Kyle. Ewan is love struck while Chris, very mistakenly, seems to think he is a cross between Oliver Walston and John Nix. Michael, in the midst of this, has got ringworm on his face.

Dissertation preparation is on course and four cups of coffee, a pork pie and three hours later, I’d written 2,500 words on new entrants to farming. I put money on not being able to write the other 7,500 words in such a short time. While dissertation writing and research is taking up a bit of time, contract farming agreements, land law and partial budgeting is taking up the rest, as well as sitting my PA1 and PA2 spraying certificates which the university have kindly put on for some of us. I’ve passed PA1 with PA2 due to be completed in January. I’m not one to get excited about adjuvants and plant growth regulators but it will certainly be a handy thing to have.

I’m also trying to become farm assured at the moment.

I think it lost credibility after the horsemeat saga but it just adds that extra marketing option and is probably worth the couple of hundred quid it costs. Probably. While we go to all the effort of ensuring traceability in the supply chain it is a bit annoying that we get horse mixed in with beef. I’m not bothered by eating horse but it’s just on principle.

On that note, I sold the last of the lambs the first week of November just to free up grazing and sent a fat beast down the road. The lambs were nothing to write home about but they’re gone and space is freed up for ewes and ewe lambs,

of which I have more than expected. Everything is dosed for fluke and worms, tups have been taken out and I’ve batched everything into two lots of sixty ready for lambing time. Deferred grazing has reduced feed costs to some extent, although everything is being fed now. On the cow front, calving has progressed well and only three cows are left to calve. Most of the cows are housed now with heifers out wintered. Ewe lambs are also housed to try and give them an easier life (which they didn’t have last winter).

The only worry now is getting the required amount of grazing post-lambing to support all of the stock.

An additional twenty acres would go down a treat right now.

By the time you read this the goose will have been fattened, Christmas will be over and I’ll be being a stupidly studious student ahead of my law exam. It’s a scary thought we are now into the final semester of university.

Considering I have been here for three years, it certainly doesn’t feel it. I would do it all again if I had the chance but I suppose it’s time I got on and did some ‘proper work’.

I am, however, looking forward to doing a masters in farm and agri-business part-time (that’s if they let me in).

I won’t say which institution, as I’m likely to get a bit of flack for it.

I’m hoping that I will get the chance to visit some people for my dissertation throughout January and February.

I don’t want to tout for people but if anyone is operating, or would like to operate, contract or share farming agreements I’d be interested to hear from you. Similarly, if you have broken into farming please give me a shout on Twitter at @MattyCSharp.

skinny style No, these skinny jean-clad brothers aren’t lost – they work in this garden and they really think skintight denim is the best attire for the job...

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hey don’t look it, but they’ve actually had an amazing year talking about the importance and excitement around growing food. An incredible 12 months has seen them elevated from first-time allotment owners to the pin-up boys for the next generation of allotment owners.

A chance meeting with TV farmer Jimmy Doherty – who saw the potential in the self-styled Skinny Jean Gardeners Lee and Dale – has seen the pair take over an 80-square-metre plot at the celebrity’s farm.

“We never intended for this to happen, but it’s happened, and we feel it’s a great platform to try and inspire passion in people about where their food comes from,” Dale, aged 23, said.

Their journey started back in January when the brothers got their hands on an allotment in their native Colchester.

“Just going down the pub and chatting rubbish didn’t do it for us – we wanted to spend time together and learn something that we could enjoy and share,” Lee, aged 25, said.

They would update friends on Twitter, sending pictures and posing questions about their produce. But it wasn’t just their friends who were watching.

Just a month after they started, they found themselves sitting in front of Jimmy Doherty, who asked them to transform a giant, forgotten patch of land on his farm into an educational experience for his visitors.

“It was a forest of weeds,” Lee said, “and I mean a forest.

The weeds were taller than us. We didn’t have many tools so

we just used shears for the first two months.”

Squeezing in hours of weeding while holding down full-time jobs and maintaining their other allotment was a real struggle for the pair, but it hasn’t dented their enthusiasm for growing food.

“We were quite lucky because we found some fennel and strawberries underneath all the weeds that had survived from when it used to be an allotment – they served them in Jimmy’s restaurant, calling it the Skinny Jean Gardeners Sundae,” Dale said.

Just like Jimmy, the media has been quick to pick-up on the Connelly brothers’ story. #studentfarmer visited the farm the day after Alan Titchmarsh – or ‘Alan T’ as the brothers claim to know him by – aired a show which included a three-minute slot with the boys.

Sunday Brunch, ITV, Radio 1 and The Telegraph have also carried interviews with Lee and Dale about the importance of growing-your-own and giving young people a chance in food and farming.

Dale said: “The Titchmarsh thing was awesome. We showed him how we get kids involved on the farm by planting beans using old coffee cups and shooting water pistols into the soil. We got his suit wet and called him Alan T. “We don’t profess to be experts – we’re on an expedition to learn about food and around every corner we’re learning something new about farming and gardening.”

After such a crazy year, no-one could predict what’s next for the brothers. Their main goal is to complete the

We don’t profess to be experts – we’re on an expedition to learn about food and around every corner we’re learning something new about farming and gardening

transformation of the plot into a vibrant, colourful attraction where families can come and see what’s been grown and grow produce that can be sold to the restaurant kitchen.

But hanging up in the garden’s greenhouse are some spray-painted t-shirts with the boys’ logo on – surely a new clothing line is just a few months away?

Lee said: “We wear skinny jeans all the time and we find them symbolic of our generation. They’re fashionable and trendy. We wear stretchy jeans but mine still have a hole in – you can tell who does the most work.

“We’re in talks with a clothing company to create some skinny jeans with knee pads for kneeling down.”

One thing’s for certain – if more farmers like Jimmy saw the potential in great communicators and ambassadors for food like Lee and Dale, inspiring the next generation of farmers would be a doddle.

“You can’t teach someone passion for growing but you can try to inspire and empower – that’s what we’re trying to do by showing everyone what we’re doing,” said Dale.

Getting to know you The boys have coined their own hip lingo to help them connect with the generation they’re trying to inspire. Here’s #studentfarmer’s guide to getting along in case you ever meet them:

YO – hello, how are you?

Old boy – an elderly gentleman My Thompson & Morgan homie – a gentleman called Michael Perry who helps the boys and works for seed company Thompson & Morgan

Alan T – television celebrity gardener Alan Titchmarsh

Jim – TV farmer Jimmy Doherty Yo T – hello Thomas (the name of #studentfarmer’s photographer, Thomas Alexander).

Once in a lifetime

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A

s prizes go, this one is probably as good as it gets. Caryl Hughes, aged 23, beat stiff competition from fellow Wales Young Farmers members to win the opportunity to farm a 614-acre upland farm in Snowdonia for 12 months in the first ever National Trust Llyndy Isaf scholarship. She started her amazing journey in September, alongside her sheepdog Mist.

I was secretary of my local YFC club and the advertisement for the scholarship came to me first. I dismissed it immediately, thinking it was a crazy idea but after mulling it over I decided to put an application form in. It was an opportunity I couldn’t let pass me by.

Since I was little I’ve always been out with my dad on the farm. If there was the option of staying in the warm with mum in the house or going out with dad in the pouring rain, I always decided to go with dad! When I was about 12 I tried my mum’s sheepdog in the local sheepdog trial in the village and won, which then started my interest in sheep dogs and working them.

When I found out I’d won the scholarship I was in slight disbelief. I thought the interview had gone well but I’d been to so many I just assumed the worst from them all!

I moved into the farm in September. The farm itself is in ok shape – it has a bit of an untamed feel at the moment but I’m sure that will change once we get a hundred ewes here grazing.

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When I tell people I’ve moved to Snowdon they immediately ask me how I’m coping with not seeing anybody. However Nant Gwynant, the valley where the farm is situated, is a very busy little place. I can see the peak of Snowdon from my bedroom window and having a public footpath through the yard means there is always someone passing though.

I hope to gain as much experience as possible, from enhancing my knowledge of sheep and cattle, to dry stone-walling and hedge laying. I want to use what I learned at university and hope to gain a better insight into all the paperwork that seems to be involved in farming at the moment!

I hope to establish a hefted flock back on the mountain and introduce Welsh Black cattle to the farm as well.

One of the projects I’ll be involved in is re-fencing the mountain, which is 4.5 km long – we’re using a helicopter to carry the posts and netting up there! Not something you get to do every day in farming.

This opportunity is great and there should be more. I’m sure there are plenty of young farmers who are desperate to get into the industry but don’t have the support or capital to do it. This will give me a true insight into how I cope with farming and help me decide if I want to further my career in the industry. Also, having a wage is a benefit; I can pay my debts off and build up some capital of my own.

My advice? Get out there and see how other people farm.

I learned so much from my parents about farming but there is so much more to learn and so many different ways of doing it! Work on a few different farms and get as many different aspects of agriculture under your belt as you can.

So far I have loved it. Everyone was so welcoming and it’s been really easy fitting in. I don’t have an issue getting out of bed in the morning now!

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#studentfarmer

FIND YOUR OWN PATH Coming from a family farm doesn’t mean you have to slot into the status quo

I

t would have been easy for Steve Jones to go back to the family farm and slot himself neatly into the current business. But he decided to do things a bit differently and carve out his own place, using his own skills. And this led him, unexpectedly, to a littleknown crop called quinoa.

Branded a ‘superfood’, the highprotein, gluten-free seed is used in salads and is traditionally produced in the warmer climes of Bolivia.

“I was reading a magazine article about quinoa and I thought it seemed like a very good product to eat because it’s very healthy,” Steve said. “I tried it and liked the taste. This led me to think it would be good to grow it myself because I thought I could do a good job of marketing and selling it.”

The 700-acre family farm in Ellesmere, Shropshire, is where the 26-year-old has finally got his commercial crop. But the real test has been trialling it on a small scale to see if the crop will grow on his mixed sandy and clay soils. His first planting was done with seeds bought from the internet in five-gram packets which he planted by hand in one-metresquare plots.

“I had to put forward a persuasive case to my dad to have a little bit of land but he’s very interested in helping me out,” Steve said. “Once we saw the first trial had gone well he was happy to continue and let me use the equipment on the farm.”

Each year, Steve expanded the planted area and varied the agronomy to test its resilience to weeds, pests and diseases. But with no approved pesticides and herbicides available for

Quinoa’s reputation as a healthy use on quinoa in this country, he was addition to a plate of food has limited to fertilisers, micronutrients and made it extremely trendy among good old farming know how.

British shoppers. But despite being “Having pesticides would be a widely available, there is no other massive benefit but we have to plough commercially-grown crop in Britain. on without them for now.”

Steve’s confident that offering a Although the practice of growing British point of difference and a good quinoa isn’t really done in England, the machinery used and the management is story will make his crop marketable in the future. similar to that of a cereal crop.

He is currently “The only problem is that studying towards a you need to harvest once Hopefully you’ll PHD in plant science the seed’s developed read this article and then at the University to make sure you get tell people about quinoa. of Nottingham. good seed quality.

STOP! Before you do, avoid He’s intrigued It’s a lot slower looking like a muppet by by lesser-known to mature learning how to say it. crops and it’s than wheat.”

Everyone pronounces it quinthis curiosity that The 22 hectares o-a, but we have it on good drives him to grown this year authority that it is keen-noir. test and trial on the farm were You’re welcome. different plants. harvested over a two“The thing that week period, as certain parts interests me most is doing of the spring-sown field matured something different and carving my later. Once harvest is over, the stubble own path. If I wanted to go back to is overwintered, which is one of the the family farm and grow oilseed rape environmental benefits Steve is keen to and wheat, the agronomy is already talk up. established, but if I grow quinoa and “We liked the idea of having more other alternative crops nobody is able to spring crops on the farm from an tell me specifically what the right thing environmental point of view because is to do. I have to use my own mind to having large amounts of winter cereals find the best way to manage the crop. is not good for wildlife. We’ve noticed That’s what interests me – making my quite a few bees in the crop this own way and trying to make it succeed. year – because of the way the crop “There are other alternative crops flowers there’s a lot of pollen available. that I’m developing at the moment – Butterflies seem to like it – there were I can see the end product being quite a lot of caterpillars about. desirable and marketable. If other That’s one of the things we hope people aren’t growing it I get to is going to be a good selling point research it and find the best way to afterwards – that the company grow it. It’s not just quinoa – it’s just behind it is environmentally aware any interesting challenge.” and responsible.”

“I have to use my own mind to find the best way to manage the crop. That’s what interests me – making my own way and trying to make it succeed”

January 2014

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Farm businesses come in all shapes and sizes, you just need to pick the right one for you. By Ben Pike

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#studentfarmer

S

cale is very much in the eye of the beholder.

To an uninformed audience, large-scale farming can sound like a scary proposition. Conversely, farming on a small scale can be dismissed as quaint.

Maybe farming’s new entrants need to learn from agricultural businesses of all sizes to decide which route is best for them?

Joe Hamer plays down his business as ‘a smallholding’, but his 200 Texels and 50 Welsh speckled ewes are the product of years of hard work which began with just two orphaned lambs.

“My dad was a dairy farmer but died when I was three,” Joe told #studentfarmer. “My mum and uncle decided that they didn’t want a dairy farm so they built a golf course on half and rented out the other half. I had to make my links with agriculture without my dad giving me a slipstream into it.”

Joe did a national diploma in agriculture at Reaseheath College where he met a lecturer called Matt Bagley who drove him to start his own business.

“I bought these two cade lambs which were going to be reared in the garden for the freezer, but I’ve still got them and one has given me nine sets of lambs,” he said.

“At the time the sheep market was crashing and prices were cheap so I bought five or six more and a tup and lambed them outside.”

Splitting his time 70/30 with a contract shepherding job, Joe looks after the flock on 50 acres of the family farm which he has slowly taken back as the operation has expanded.

Now 28, he experienced scale on a 20,000 store lamb operation which built up his understanding of the industry.

“I want to keep the business at the 250-300 mark but improve the stock.

I’d also like to work as a college lecturer teaching fencing, hedging, walling and write a specialist sheep farming college syllabus like they have in New Zealand and Australia – if you’re going to have a specialist industry you’ve got to have a specialist course.”

At 21-years-old, Rebecca Kelsall is where Joe was about nine years ago, but pigs are her game.

supermini Name: Joe Hamer farms: Sheep Started his own business with just two orphaned lambs

The Harper Adams agri-business student is five months into her first batch of Saddlebacks which are kept on her uncle’s farm near Macclesfield.

There’s no doubt that Rebecca is starting at the small end of the scale.

“I approached my uncle to ask if I could use a big fenced-off area on his turkey and arable farm to rear three piglets on and he said he would help me out,” she said.

“I’d never reared an animal before and they were eight weeks old when they arrived and very timid – they would run away from me when I approached them. Now they’re getting big and really active.”

Living 45-miles away from the farm means Rebecca only gets to see her stock at the weekend, with her family helping out with feeding during the week.

But she says that having live experience of farming, albeit on a small scale, allows her to learn about the pig

industry and build it into her studies.

“I’m creating a website for them and using the business as part of my university module – coming up with a name has been the hardest bit so far.

Kelsall Pork just sounds wrong!”

She plans for her first batch of pigs to be the starting point for a bigger business further down the line but wants to build it up slowly.

“If everything goes well and I make money on them then the next lot will be Oxford Sandy and Blacks. I want to expand and carry the business on but with me being a student for another two and a half years, any more than a handful might be too many. I want to keep it fairly small.

“I’m very lucky because I got the land for free and I don’t have to pay for labour – that’s what will allow me to make money on this first batch.”

But not everyone starts small and builds up a business from scratch, especially when you become part of an established family business.

Ben Hay’s dad decided to start farming broilers in 1983 from his mixed Herefordshire farm. That operation has now expanded to 21 sites – 18 operational from Yorkshire to Carmarthenshire – with 2.5m chickens and 125,000 turkeys on the floor at

January 2014

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supermini Name: Rebecca Kelsall farms: Saddleback pigs Hardest thing so far?

Coming up with a business name

experience outside Hay Farms.

“I studied agricultural marketing which was great fun and I learnt a lot but it also gives you contacts for the future. That one contact could get you to the next step.”

When he returned to the family farm and helped introduce the turkey business he admits that he still had a lot to learn.

“I didn’t see it as a large-scale business then – I was thrown in to learn

any one time of the year.

It’s the job of Ben, his brother Jonty and a payroll approaching 40 employees to manage the enormous business which supplies chicken into Tesco and turkey into Cranberry Foods.

“The obvious benefit we have is economies of scale whether in regards to negotiating better deals or gaining greater knowledge about the birds,” Ben said. “We learn a lot quicker with 18 farms – every week we’re seeing new chicks arrive and finished birds depart. We can trial new ideas and change things accordingly quickly.

“I heard three basic words once at a conference that described our business well – simple, connected and driven – keep the business protocols simple, have connected communications with everyone and ensure that everything you’re doing is driven towards improving the staff Name: Ben Hay and the business.” farms: Chickens and Despite being turkeys at Hay Farms. brought up on the The operation farms farm, Ben was keen 2.5m chickens at any to go to Harper Adams and get one time

supersize

alongside the manager of a 10-shed site so I didn’t really think about the bigger picture. You have to learn the basics first, to grow the birds, as this is the core to the business, then you can step up further to the management side learning along the way.

“Nowadays it’s knowing where to put our time to be most successful and that’s spending more time in the office negotiating deals on raw materials because it’s so volatile.

“What’s helped greatly in the past is getting into meetings and conferences and listening to the industry – not always having input. A great deal of new entrants don’t have any exposure to the industry and I think it really helps to hear people talk about it as a whole – not just always thinking about your own business.”

Expansion and continued improvement is still on Ben’s mind. He said that the company is always looking to be more efficient but further growth was required.

“We’re looking every year at adding to the business – renewable energy with solar, wind and biomass boilers are the latest investment. We’ve got to keep growing our output to cover the costs of continued investments.”

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#studentfarmer

Ewe’ll love it S heep farming is one of the best places to start in the agricultural industry – it’s no coincidence that loads of the lads and lasses featured in this edition have a woolly creature in their picture with them. The upfront costs aren’t huge, you don’t need to buy huge pieces of machinery and they’re not too difficult to take care of. Yes, they’re a bit more open to the prospect of death than most animals and they’re not the brightest, but look past their suicidal tendencies and they’re a great first step into farming.

But don’t take our word for it – we asked our friends on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram what advice they had for anyone considering sheep farming.

Here’s what they had to say: SOPHIE BARNES: Get your head round CPHs and movement paperwork.

Don’t forget to send your movement form in within three days of moving your sheep! Get into the habit of writing down all medicine information, batch

numbers, dosage and treated animals.

If you get into the habit from the start you’ll never forget (I’m terrible for it!)

I’ve learned it does well to be OCD about paperwork and note taking. Keeping a thorough diary is the best thing I started to do so I don’t second-guess myself about medicines given, sheep moved and rent paid. I’d be lost without it.

PHILIP GULLIFORD: Buy quality over quantity, talk to people and look round farms before you buy.

KATY DAVIES: May seem obvious but often overlooked – buy sheep to suit the system you want and your farm type!

ADAM BEDFORD: Learn to shear sheep, shear other farmers’ sheep, then use the money they pay you for shearing the sheep to buy the sheep.

IFAN DAVIES: Get as much practical experience as you can from as many people as possible first. Listen to everyone then make your own decisions.

January 2014

IAN ROPER: Don’t buy in disease.

Source from accredited herds, test, quarantine.

AMY TOPE: Make sure you get enough fencing up and no holes!

HAMISH WAUGH: You need to register with AHVLA (Animal Health) as a sheep keeper. If you are breeding your own they will issue you with a flock number which will appear on all the ear tags you have to put on your lambs before they can be sold.

ROSEY DUNN: Go for it. But you need to get a lot of good advice on sheep husbandry from a good shepherd to avoid the pitfalls.

JAMES SMALL: Offer service helping on other flocks, gain experience and seek possible opportunity of share farming – avoids capital outlay.

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JASON SHORTEN: Be prepared for hard work and a satisfying feeling!

Lots of stock tasks like lambing, shearing, foot trimming, etc. Will give you a great feeling when they are done!

IAN CLATWORTHY: Get the best you can afford from day one and farm your books as well as your stock. Tidy farm, tidy books, tidy profit.

ADAM TRIGG: Stick at it – you won’t make money at first, not for a while actually, but believe in yourself.

REBECCA VEALE: Go lambing, you will learn so much. The long days and nights are definitely worth it!

WILL WILSON: Get an education.

Training is important if you want to run a successful business.

interested?

Hopefully this advice might have made you think. But we’re going to get a bit serious now – don’t take the decision lightly. It’s not as easy as waking up and thinking: ‘I think I’ll go buy some sheep today’. This is a full-time commitment and you’ve got to make sure you aren’t flying in the face of the rules and regulations that are there for a good reason. First you have to get a County Parish Holding number for your land and then register your sheep with the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency. Then you’ve got to make sure you’re up to speed with identification – we won’t go into details, but just know that those tags in their ears aren’t fashion accessories.

You’ve got to keep records, report their movements (from place to place, not internally) and wise up about disease and nutrition. Getting the basics right will save you effort in the long run.

Details on all the rules can be found on the Defra website: www.gov.uk/defra

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#studentfarmer

But which sheep to pick?

While we were chatting to people, we also asked them what sheep breeds they’d recommend.

Now, if you decide to make a go of sheep farming, we must stress that getting the breed right is vital – pick the right sheep for your system and where you’re farming. This list is not comprehensive – after all, there are more than 900 sheep breeds in the world, and we don’t mind admitting that we haven’t met them all. But here are some starting tips…

Mule. Save the expense of rare breeds until you have experience and income (could be a long wait but be patient).

NIKOLAUS HUBER: My choice was Poll Dorsets so I can lamb in the winter when my work is quiet and I catch the early market trade.

WILL RIDDINGTON: Lleyns. They lamb well outside, have good milk and can rear two lambs easily.

Not the biggest of ewes so easy to handle.

ANDREW HATCHER: Aberdale x Cheviot. Hardy breed, can do well on poor grazing and good lambing percentages.

JULIA CHERRIE: Texels, because they are good mothers and aren’t as skittish as other breeds I have experienced.

TITCH: Hebredian x Texel/Charolais.

Cheap ewes which are good mothers, lamb easily. Texel ram gives good shape and lots of meat.

MATTHEW SHARP: A cheap ewe with a fast growing lean tup like a Lleyn.

GEMMA SLATER: Texel x Charolais.

Big lambs usually when born, good trade at market and put on weight quickly.

PENNY ROOKE: North Country Mules, look after them and they look after their lambs.

DANIEL ROOKE: A North Country Mule is probably the best or Suffolk x

DARYL BROWN: Agree with Penny Rooke, North Country Mules! Milky and excellent mothers.

RICHARD COOK: Hair Sheep (Easy Care) all the way – milky, good mothers, good feet, low input and no wool = no shearing! Also slaughterhouses want them due to high killing out percentage.

YASMIN MICHELLE JONES: Zwartbles! Well natured, easy to handle, easy lambing, valuable, milky, good mothers, tasty meat!

WIN A HERDY MUG! There aren’t many breeds that can say this – the Herdwick sheep has its very own brand. The Herdy company produces lots of fantastic things from its base in Kendal and every year donates a percentage of its profits to its ‘herdy fund’ to support rural communities, upland fell farming and Herdwick sheep. Established in 2007 by Spencer and Diane Hannah, today Herdy is a well-known brand – you’ve probably seen their amazing mugs before.

With that in mind, the lovely people at Herdy have very kindly donated four mugs for us to give away to

#studentfarmer readers. If you’d like to win one, email your name and address to studentfarmer@nfu.org.uk. And while you’re on the internet, visit www.herdy.co.uk to find out more about the company and their fantastic designs.

January 2014

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Farming Kiwi-style James Miller endures furry teeth for a trip to New Zealand During your final year studies, future career prospects are thrown at you from every angle and the pressure to find a job after graduation seems daunting. However, have you thought about a work placement abroad? Gaining further experience overseas may boost your CV, improve employability and provide an opportunity to see the world.

During my time at the Royal Agricultural University I was thrilled to be named Farmers Guardian agricultural student of the year.

My prize, courtesy of Agriventure, was an eleven-month placement. I chose New Zealand to learn how intensive farms are run and managed sustainably with low input.

I am building a sound understanding

of large-scale agriculture, especially as I have been working on a 540ha mixed cropping and sheep farm. Slightly different to the 27 acre family farm in Devon!

New Zealand is different to England in many ways, and especially in terms of subsidised government payments.

New Zealand farmers are not given payments to subsidise their incomes but instead must rely solely upon their farm business income. This is a key point of business I need to learn in order to enhance UK agriculture, and apply to my own enterprise one day.

New Zealand is also very different in terms of environmental red tape.

For instance, there are no restriction limits for nitrogen application (currently under consideration), water usage from natural sources and currently no environmental opportunities. In many respects New Zealand farmers are far more advanced technologically but in terms of environmental care, the UK may be at the forefront when it comes to sustainability.

What have I learned in New Zealand, that I couldn’t have learned back in the UK? The answer seems to lie in scales of production and low cost systems. This may be difficult to achieve in England due to the late retirement age of farmers and soaring land prices which derail many plans of expansion.

With a population of 60m in the UK compared to 4m in the south island of NZ with similar landmass, it’s easy to see why England is at a disadvantage in terms of competing for land resources.

I am determined to bring sustainability and profitability to smaller scales. I would definitely be keen to experiment with the grazing systems used in New Zealand with a sheep enterprise in the UK, calculating feed allocation utilised from grassland to achieve growth rates required.

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#studentfarmer

I hope to secure a role as an assistant manager on my return to England. I would love to be offered the opportunity to put into practice the efficiency of systems out here into an enterprise.

In England, some young farmers are fortunate enough to inherit land and businesses. However in New Zealand many young people work their way up the ladder, buying equity from the businesses they work for in order to eventually have enough to start their own enterprises. This experience has provided an insight into the possibilities of share farming agreements, which may be the first step towards running my own enterprise.

I am so lucky to have been given the opportunity to work and travel out here. The trip has definitely assured me a mixed enterprise of livestock and arable is still financially beneficial.

Getting practical experience and being given responsibility with machinery, agronomy and stockmanship has supported the theoretical knowledge from my degree.

As the saying goes: “The only source of knowledge is experience.”

HEALTH AND SAFETY

HOW TO SURVIVE A 24-HOUR FLIGHT Make the most of the films to watch.

Inbetween travelling and working, you won’t see many once you get there!

If possible sit in an aisle seat. The view out of the window may be good initially but it’s not worth having to wake a sleeping passenger every time you need to use the loo.

Travel sized toothpaste – those teeth are going to get furry!

Read James’ blog here: http://farmingkiwistyle. wordpress.com/

Camel farming in Kazakhstan Gracey Munro Henworth goes on an adventure I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity this summer to travel to a mesmerising country of which I knew very little – Kazakhstan. The world’s largest landlocked country is hugely vast and varied, not only in its landscape – from mountain ranges to vast plains – but also in its agriculture.

As well as the familiar sights of arable, dairy and sheep farms, there are more unusual enterprises of camel, horse, dairy and ostrich farms.

My trip was most definitely eyeopening. It made me realise how fortunate we are to receive an education that continually encourages us to be forward-thinking and not instability, with a farmer’s typical afraid of tackling problems. rotation featuring two consecutive As I found, many of the difficulties years of wheat followed by one or two facing Kazakh farmers arise from a years of spring barley or oats and one lack of such an education and the year of ‘clean fallow’. inheritance of earlier farming practices.

Local people blame this dependence With more than 80 per cent of on a limited range of crops on the the land classified as agricultural, the methods and culture inherited from country has huge potential within Soviet times. Although Kazakhstan the international agricultural sector has had recent economic success, due that few other countries have. But, to exploiting its enormous oil, natural although there have been significant gas and mineral wealth, the benefits developments in recent years, a lot have been concentrated in urban areas of investment is still required to leaving widespread rural poverty. further improve the country’s Farms tend to consist of hundreds agricultural sector. of thousands of hectares, managed Only 10 per cent of the total cooperatively and receiving government agricultural land is used for arable subsidies. But modern machinery and crops. Kazakhstan is one of the world’s methods are a rare sight. major wheat exporters, with other I also witnessed the nomadic routes exports including cotton, leather and of the country, spending three days wool. The main grain crop is with a family who farm camels in milling wheat and, in Tastubek. Very few people 2011, the country live in this once thriving netted a record area since the Aral yield of around Sea retreated, 27m tonnes. resulting in the Even so, the consequential arable region destruction of the is subject fishing community. to frequent I shall leave you drought and is with the words that BOARDIN G PASS considered a were shared with me zone of risky by this nomadic family. agriculture.

“It is your generation who Limited crop have the words to change rotations a nation but you are biting add to the your tongue.”

KAZAKH

STAN

#SF-01/

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January 2014

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More than a free pen Rebecca Watkins on the first Youth Ag Summit in Canada One hundred and twenty delegates, all with a passion for agriculture, met in Calgary to discuss the topic of ‘feeding a hungry planet’. The inaugural Youth Ag Summit was organised by 4H Canada and Bayer Crop Science with the aim of collecting the perspectives of youth from 21 countries around the world to identify solutions to global food insecurity.

Our first task was to identify the issues. The sheer enormity of this was initially, I’ll admit, a little daunting. Customer awareness and waste, environment and economics, malnutrition and human rights; it’s pretty intense stuff. It was clear that world farming systems and their problems are hugely diverse and no solution would be applicable globally.

However, there were improvements which could be made worldwide.

Education is vital. Giving farmers in developing nations the skills to make the most of their resources and ensuring that the next generation of western consumers is making sensible decisions are key.

As is innovation; not just the latest glitzy kit but simple ideas that can

improve water use efficiency or deter pests and predators.

And finally collaboration.

Partnerships that make things possible are needed at all levels. A few corporations control a large percentage of world markets giving them massive power. Some might not think this desirable but we can only work with what we’ve got. Idealism just wastes precious time.

I have never been surrounded by so many motivated and talented young people. Not at Oxford University.

Not even at Young Farmers. We had engineers, international development students, plant pathologists, aspiring politicians and, of course, aggies. With such a wide variety of expertise, every argument met its counter. This could have been disheartening but it wasn’t for one-upmanship. We realised that only by being realistic and honest could we achieve something worthwhile.

Now, it wasn’t perfect. The skew towards North American practice was notable. Many topics like GM, organics, bovine TB and subsidies didn’t spark the hot debate they would have here. Moreover, there were no delegates from China or India. These rapidly developing nations are going to be hugely influential in the future and the input of a few well-read or well-travelled delegates did not

CANADA #SF-01/14 make up for their absence.

At all too many of these events, delegates leave with little else to show for it than a free pen. This was different; each delegate pledged to undertake three acts, tangible things, specific to their interests and talents to make a real difference to their own communities. We all left eager to get started and spread the word. New, global connections are yielding huge opportunities. Facebook and Twitter networks are alive with debate.

And then there’s the board.

Seven delegates, each representing a continent, were elected at the end of the summit to join 4H and Bayer leaders in taking the vision forward and developing a world perspective.

I was honoured to be elected as the delegate for Europe. It will be a massive challenge, especially being the only region to contain 50 countries, 225 indigenous languages and the rigmarole of EU politics.

So no, we didn’t solve world hunger in five days, far from it. However, with a global network of 120, better informed, talented and enthusiastic young people making change within our industry, I have never been more confident that we can rise to the challenges of the future.

January 2014

JANUARY

22-23: LAMMA 25: Burns Night

DIARY DATES

2014

FEBRUARY

1 Feb - 21 Mar: Six Nations 7-23: Winter Olympics 12-13: Energy Now Expo 14: Valentine’s Day 25-26: NFU Conference

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AUGUST

Harvest 100th anniversary of the start of World War One

SEPTEMBER

MAY

18: Scottish Independence Referendum

7-11: Badminton Horse Trials 9-12: NFYFC convention 13-14: British Pig and Poultry Fair 21-25: Chelsea Flower Show

OCTOBER

31: Halloween

MARCH

Lambing 1: St David’s Day 4: Pancake Day 14: Cheltenham Gold Cup Day 17: St Patrick’s Day 30: Mother’s Day

JUNE

Shearing 8: Open Farm Sunday 11-12: Cereals 12 June-13 July: FIFA World Cup 15: Father’s Day 17-21: Royal Ascot 23 June-6 July: Wimbledon 25-29: Glastonbury Festival

NOVEMBER

5: Bonfire Night 9: 25th anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down 9: Remembrance Sunday 30: St Andrew’s Day

APRIL

1: April Fools day 5: Grand National 6: The Boat Race 13: London Marathon 20: Easter Sunday 23: St George’s Day 29: A solar eclipse

JULY

2-3: Livestock Event 5-27: Tour de France 21-24: Royal Welsh Show 23 July-3 August: Commonwealth Games

DECEMBER

25: Christmas Day 26: Boxing Day 31: New Year's Eve