Agriculture is a sector which is always evolving, with so many opportunities open to young people, whether they hail from an agricultural background or not.
This week, I visited a local agricultural college to speak to a lecturer and students about their hopes for the future, and how farming careers have changed through the years.
David Singleton has been teaching at Myerscough College in different forms since 1988, and has seen a lot of evolution, at the college, with the students and in the wider industry. It was really fascinating to discuss how the changes in industry reflected back on how the college worked.
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After all, Myerscough runs its farming operation as a commercial farm and Dave feels they need to be able to make it work so that students can take that away into the real world.
Around 50% of the students are from non-farming backgrounds, inspired by things such as Clarkson's Farm, with the others from farming backgrounds wanting to expand their knowledge before embarking on their careers.
He added many more women were now coming into the industry, and they were often finding the women were outnumbering the men.
Looking back, he said there are elements which have stood still. ‘Livestock are still livestock', he said.
But the industry has massively changed, going from having lots of staff on farm to more specialised roles.
When he started, the course was almost all practical. But now, like within the industry itself, there is more of a focus on business skills and in gaining extra qualifications in operating machinery or foot-trimming, where you can learn best practice rather than carrying on doing things the way they have always been done on farm.
Many of the students are interested in diversification and going back to the farm to implement projects when they finish.
The wide array of careers Dave could say his students have gone onto from nutritionists to meat buyers, as well as independent farmers, shows that it really is a sector full of opportunities for young people.
After all, everybody needs to eat. And while more automation and new technology will change the way things are done, there will always be a need for passionate people on farm and in the surrounding industries.
