The new Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture initiative to bring together farming leaders to commit to new action to attract talent into farming and growing careers, should be applauded.
This could be the solution to the question that has been asked time and time again over the last decade – how do we attract and keep more talented people into our sector?
Industry leaders have committed to spearheading new measures in order to attract talent into the farming sector against the backdrop of significant labour shortages.
The move comes from the Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH) to help “encourage a co-ordinated approach to increasing interest in careers in the sector”.
TIAH said that this would allow the sector to ‘compete better in increasingly challenging labour markets.’ It will also hopefully present a more coordinated approach to how we think about presenting ourselves as a vibrant, sustainable sector to work in.
The challenge will be to overcome the already intrenched perception that horticulture and farming only provides low-paid, low-skilled and dirty job roles. This is not true of course. Ever changing automation and technology means that there is a need for data analysts and automation specialists, as well as marketing specialists, sales people and good managers.
The initiative will help inform what future college and university courses will look like and how they can reflect the changing platform that horticulture and farming presents. In turn, we will hopefully have better equipped workers from the UK that want to work in the sector. A lack of people willing to work in the sector has led to a reliance on more oversees workers and this has turned into one of the industry’s biggest challenges in recent years.
This is an opportunity that needs to be taken with both hands, as if it is successful, it will help ensure a more productive, sustainable future for the sector.
The November issue is out now & includes
- Jubilee boost for tomato fortnight
- Grower ownership for new EAMU body
- Controlling ornamental growth
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