FUW BURSARY WINNER DEMANDS ACTION TO ATTRACT YOUNGER PEOPLE INTO FARMING

The farming industry and government must act without delay to attract younger people into agriculture in Wales where the average age of farmers is 58, the 19-year-old winner of the Farmers' Union of Wales student bursary has demanded.

Iestyn Russell, who is studying rural enterprise and land management at Harper Adams University College, Shropshire, chose to write a 1,000-word essay on the topic "What should the Welsh farming industry and government do to attract more young people into agriculture?" as his submission for the £700 bursary.

"This question has been the subject of debate for several years. We need to deal with the problem now or our industry will face major problems in the future," the Lampeter farmer’s son wrote.

He added: "Rural Wales’ young people are quite prepared to bridge the gap and take responsibility, but we must ask why they are not offered a chance to move forward within agriculture in Wales.

"Older farmers must take a step back and give young people a chance to experiment with their own ideas. But what encourages this to happen? Not a lot at the moment, but there are plenty of possibilities.

"Firstly, the profile of agriculture has to be raised in the public’s eyes. Farmers in this country do not get the respect, praise or the price they deserve, so this would be a good place to start. An advertising campaign on the television and in the daily newspapers would be worth considering.

"Perhaps the public would be willing to pay more for local produce and support Welsh farmers instead of buying imported food. They should be aware of the high level of care farmers in this country give their stock and they, therefore, deserve a better price for better produce."

Iestyn, an enthusiastic member of Cwmann YFC and this year's Wales YFC best junior stockman, also worked on the family's dairy and sheep farm at Cwmann, near Lampeter, and on a neighbouring beef and sheep farm before deciding to go to university to study for a degree "but my dream of farming is still as real as ever".

Speaking for the bursary scheme's judging panel, FUW agricultural education and training committee chairman Alun Edwards said they were very impressed with the way Iestyn expressed himself during his interview and in his written submission.

"We were confident that his broad knowledge of the industry will serve him well in the future. The submissions of the other award winners were also of a high standard."

Iestyn suggested other ways to attract more young people into farming could include schemes to assist the transfer of farms from the older generation to the younger generation. "Would some sort of pension scheme for the more experienced farmers work?

"Farmers could be offered a pension scheme to enable them to retire earlier, at 55 years old for example. Or keep the age as it is at present but offer them more money.

"Some sort of a succession scheme which would make the process of changing the people who run or own a farm easier would be a good idea. It would motivate both parties and avoid a long, drawn out process which is slow and expensive.

"This would mean looking closely at the rules of inheritance tax. One idea would be to reduce the rate if one member of the family was going to carry on farming the farm."

He acknowledged that the Welsh Assembly Government recently announced a scheme to support people under 40 years of age to make a living out of agriculture by offering a one-off payment of £15,000 to cover the costs new farmers face when they establish themselves as head of a holding for the first time.

"They also offer support to encourage share farming or joint ventures between young people. And another part of the scheme is that young farmers are mentored by an older, more experienced farmer.

“I believe that this is an excellent idea as it combines the new ideas and enthusiasm of young people with the older farmers’ experience and knowledge."

Iestyn stressed that depopulation, especially of young people, in rural areas had been a problem for years. Young people can find better, cleaner jobs elsewhere with more spare time and, more importantly, more money.

"Farming is one of the hardest jobs and, therefore, people who do this job deserve a fair wage. Unfortunately, the prices farmers receive are not enough and a fairer price is needed.

"The Government could set a threshold below which prices could not drop. This would not be favourable to the public or to private processing companies, but it would benefit the milk industry and this could offer a solution and prevent farmers from ceasing milk production.

"A ban on cheap imported foods would mean that farmers in this country could be better supported in order to increase production levels to satisfy the demand for food. It’s likely that this would create more jobs on farms and would reward farmers for their hard work.

"The Government could reduce some of the paper work which cripples and takes up farmers’ time. This would make the industry more attractive for young people to enter and more time would be spent on the land instead of in an office.

"There are numerous ways to tackle this old problem, but something needs to be done at once to give young people a fair chance. The responsibility not only lies with the Government and the industry, but also with the current and future farmers."

Runner-up to Iestyn is 19-year-old David Evans, of Groeswen Farm House, Groeswen, Cardiff, who has just started a four-year agriculture BSc degree course at Aberystwyth University. He receives £200.

Third is 22-year-old Manod Williams, of Tregerddan, Bow Street, near Aberystwyth, who has also just embarked on a BSc course in agriculture with animal science at Aberystwyth. He receives £100.

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