Young Farmers and Careers

Despite farming not being in the blood, new entrant Louie van Geffen is building a commercial farming business while expanding his flourishing Beltex flock. Katie Fallon finds out more.

The Young Farmers’ Club mantra that you do not need to be a farmer to join its ranks continues to be its message as it recruits members. It is also the opening gambit put forward to introduce teenagers to agriculture as a career possibility.

The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution has launched a ‘return to school’ grant to help farming families cover the cost of school uniforms, P.E. kit and other equipment.

McDonald’s is launching a campaign to increase diversity within the industry to mark 10 years of its Progressive Young Farmer programme, which provides hundreds of opportunities for young people to get a foot on the farming ladder.

Matthew Donald, 30, from Northallerton in North Yorkshire, runs a farrow to finish pig unit, alongside two broiler breeder farms producing fertile hatching eggs for the broiler industry.

Rural young people will be recognised for the first time in-person at the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Club (NFYFC) YFC Achiever Awards.

Dan Hawes, 26, is based in Mereworth, Kent. He is an arable turned fruit farmer, growing strawberries and blackberries as part of a larger farming business.

Rachael Wood, 22, grew up on a beef and arable farm in Kinross-shire. She currently works in the rural payments and inspections division for the Scottish Government and is the SAYFC Fife and Kinross District Secretary.

Catriona Dickson, 21, is from County Durham but currently lives in Aberdeen as a Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) student studying rural business management.

Scottish Government funding has breathed new life into the rural training sector, helping upskill instructors and bring in new recruits.