UK kicks off drive to encourage youth to join food and farming sectors

UK Farming Minister David Heath has launched a new drive to encourage more young people in the UK to work in the food and farming sectors.

The Future of Farming review will examine ways to improve access for entrepreneurial and talented young people and investigate how to make food and farming more attractive career choices.

According to the Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra), farming and other associated industries, including engineering and science, will need to fill thousands more high-skilled posts over the coming years.

The rise in employment opportunities can be attributed to the huge potential for growth generated by an increasing global population, rising demand for western-style foods across the world as well as the need to lessen the environmental footprint of food production.

Heath said that the UK has a huge opportunity to grow and export more food, and that it is important to encourage young people to enter the industry.

"I’m not just talking about giving people more access to land or getting them on production lines but allowing youngsters to really embrace new ideas and technology for rewarding, well-paid careers," the minister added.

The Future of Farming group, led by David Fursdon, chairman of the South West Rural and Farming Network and former president of the Country Land and Business Association, will strive to combine expertise from both inside and outside the farming sector.

It will travel across the country and seek ideas and opinions from a wide cross-section of the agricultural sector.

Under the drive, issues that are affecting new entrants to the industry will be examined.

These issues include future workforce and skills requirements of the industry; various entry routes into farming; opportunities that are offered in agriculture, such as graduate schemes in science, engineering and research; challenges faced by new entrants, such as lack of training, access to land and access to capital; and the challenges faced by employers in finding the right people.

Fursdon said that producing food more sustainably is a major challenge and can be only met by having the right people entering the industry.

As part of the drive, Heath is launching a twitter competition for five young people to meet him and discuss the issues.