Following a three year project, the National Trust is calling for the industry to recognise the need for investment in training of the farming workforce to ensure a bright future for the sector.
Alison Rickett, Rural Skills & Training Advisor at the National Trust, explained: 'Our farming population is ageing. A survey of National Trust tenants found that 45 per cent of our farmers are over 55 and this is reflected across the industry. We need to make sure the workforce retains important skills, especially at a time when farmers are facing increasing challenges of dealing with shifts in policy and the need to balance sustainable food production whilst making their business work.'
Since 2006, the National Trust has run a Rural Skills & Training project aimed at the charity’s 1,500 tenant farmers, new entrants to farming and the Trust’s pioneering farm advisory network. This project has been sponsored by Barclays Bank
'The idea behind the project was to help support business development to all tenants via new skills, diversification and business management with particular reference to environmental and conservation issues,'
said Alison.
'This has included training for soil management, diffuse pollution, cross compliance through to writing business plans and the establishment of farmer business groups.'
As well as focusing on the skills of the existing farm workforce the project looked at how new entrants could be attracted to the industry. As a result, the National Trust has reviewed its re-letting process and hope that by providing more information and better support it will become easier for new people to come into farming.
Alison talked about how the training was designed: 'To kick start the project we assessed the training needs of our tenants to make sure we delivered training that was needed, not what we thought was wanted. We also thought carefully about how we delivered the courses. A traditional course in a classroom is not always the answer so we have used a variety of methods from distance learning, on farm training, one-to-one tuition through to group visits and large demonstration days.'
Alongside the training and new entrant work, the National Trust also looked at how it could improve communication with tenants. A new newsletter has been introduced and has already helped tenants feel more part of the Trust and understand what support is out there.
'This looks as though it will be another time of change for the farming sector and although our project with Barclays has come to an end, we are committed to continue working with our tenants and staff to help them gain the skills and confidence they need to farm now and into the future,' said Alison. 'But we can’t do it alone. Over the past two years we have worked with many industry partners and see this type of joint delivery becoming even more important.'
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