Farming talk: Farming is at a crossroads
Farming is at a crossroads right now – desperately in need of the manpower to ensure we can continue to feed an ever-growing population while faced with the dilemma of experienced farm workers leaving the industry and too few youngsters seeing it as a desired career path.
Hard work, long hours, job satisfaction and a pay structure which hasn’t kept pace with other sectors are not helping to meet the challenge and there is no doubt that the lack of new blood coming into the industry is a big problem.
I saw a report recently by McDonald’s UK which revealed that 60 per cent of young people would not contemplate a career in agriculture but, with the average age of the British farmer now 59, it is clearly something which needs to be addressed and we must find a way of encouraging young talent to think again by making farming a more attractive option.
The problem is nothing new of course and you can find figures of a steady decline in the percentage of under 45-year-old farmers going back to at least the start of the new millennium – but the steady drain has reached concerning proportions and we need to think about the future.
From a local perspective, I was talking two two farmers the other day who have just lost two guys each. Losing experienced workers is never ideal but to come just before harvest is proving particularly difficult for them.
All four gave as a major reason for quitting a desire to spend more time at home with their family – one has gone lorry driving with a maximum 56 hours per week with 15 or 30-minute breaks every four hours. It’s difficult to argue against the kind of logic in seeking a job more in keeping with a better work/life balance, isn’t it?
Add to this the challenge of coaxing young people onto the farm with the prospect at harvest time requiring a commitment of probably 80 to 100 hours a week and it’s a daunting task.
I think another thing we are going to have to deal with is Health and Safety and legislation which will eventually catch up with our industry – we are still seeing too many accidents and fatal injuries which can be attributed to long hours and tiredness.
Along with the negatives there are also many positives to working in agriculture and we must find ways of actively involving our future farming generations from as early a stage as possible to help safeguard our industry and prevent our talented young people being seduced into other sectors.
Farming has always been an adaptable industry and the latest ongoing challenges we face are simply the latest in a long list we have had to find answers to.
Oliver Scott is farm manager at Bradford Estates
