Young Farmers and Careers

The NFU has revealed the names of the 11 farmers chosen to be its Student & Young Farmer Ambassadors for this year.

Growing up on the family farm and having an outgoing fun-loving mother, who was heavily involved with the Scottish Association of Young Farmers Clubs (SAYFC) lead me to join my local club.  

Ryan Dakin, 25, a free-range egg producer from Malpas, Cheshire.

When opportunity knocked, Damian Barson answered. His lifelong dream of becoming a farmer has recently become a reality after being given the chance to farm 26 hectares (64 acres) at Warton, near Preston, Lancashire.

Through hard work, positivity, and a can-do attitude, new entrants Stuart and Chloe Graham, made their dream a reality when they secured a ten-year tenancy on one of Scotland’s Crown Estate farms.

Charlotte Taylor, 27, is Wiltshire Young Farmers County Chair and farms beef cattle alongside a floristry business.

Olivia Richardson, near Darlington, on the North Yorkshire and Durham border, is vice-chair of the NFU Next Generation Forum.

Research by The Prince’s Countryside Fund shows barriers new entrants face.

EX-teacher Ionela Bacioiu (known as Dana) has become the UK’s first female to complete her Level 2 FDQ Abattoir Worker Apprenticeship, blazing a trail for other women to carve out a career in the meat sector. 

It is not the usual thing to be able to willingly walk through the doors of a prison for any given reason. But what is more unusual is to see a working mixed farm.