Not inheriting a farm should not write you off if your dream is to farm conventionally.
Last week's episode of For Flock's Sake – Farmers Guardian's special monthly podcast series – with Katie Andrews and Will Riddington proved that to be the case.
Will and Katie had a farming dream, but admitted to themselves that buying a farm simply was not realistic.
There is more than one route into farming
Instead of giving up, they looked for another route into farming at the level they felt they could achieve.
They spotted an advert for a livestock contract farming agreement while on holiday in a farming magazine and decided to take a chance.
With a "sink-or-swim" attitude, they dived in.
Katie said: "Even if it doesn't come to anything here, we can use this as a template elsewhere."
A livestock contract farming agreement provides a way for young farmers to take on real responsibility, farm at scale and invest in their own futures.
The couple said: "We have invested into the farm and see this as a long-term opportunity, nurturing the farm as if it were our own."
I realise one of the biggest barriers for people considering a career in farming is that land prices are huge and the capital required is often unattainable.
It is therefore understandable why young people feel put off.
But whether it is a contract farming agreement, share farming, stockmanship, shepherding or simply working your way up through the industry, there are alternatives.
They all require taking some risk and plenty of hard work.
READ NOW: Young Farmer Focus - Nikita Fineran: "My ultimate dream is to run my own farm"
Why a livestock contract farming agreement worked
The difference between a livestock contract farming agreement like this and more common routes into farming, such as renting, is that Will and Katie are not tenants paying rent and hoping there is enough left over.
They have security through a longer-term agreement, which justifies making long-term decisions and investing their own money.
For Will and Katie, that security and sense of partnership was clearly the right fit. Of course, for many farmers, renting remains the right route into the industry.
Not everybody will inherit a farm. Most will not.
But Will and Katie have shown there are more ways into this industry than many people think and sometimes it is just about being willing to take a risk when the right opportunity comes along.
Read more about Will and Katie's story: Young beef and sheep farmers thriving on Northumberland contract farm
