‘Invest in people now’
Not enough is being done to upskill agricultural workers so they can earn better pay or demonstrate a training pathway for young people to enter farming and agriculture. So say Unite national officer Bev Clarkson and campaigner Charlie Clutterbuck, who previously represented Unite on the board of the land-based training skills organisation, Lantra.
As the government is encouraging older farmers with a lump sum payment to leave the industry, and with a greater emphasis on environmental farming, it’s likely there will be even fewer people who want to work the land with an increasing reliance on food imports and overseas workers.
Lantra admitted that the ‘availability of skilled labour is an ongoing challenge for the agricultural industry’. and was seeking to overcome this with a new website ‘with extensive careers content, bringing to life the rewarding opportunities on offer.’
The National Farmers’ Union Next Generation Forum’s Olivia Richardson stated, “Producing food can be challenging whilst exciting, but it is not always depicted as a viable and progressive career path for young people.” This is why the NFU is working with schools “so we can expose young people as early as possible to the career opportunities food and farming has to offer.”
Richardson added it’s “also essential that those already working in agriculture have the opportunity to access skills training to progress their careers and ensure that the industry can keep developing for the future.”
It all sounds great but according to Clutterbuck the reality is the “courses appear only to be aimed at management and ownership levels. That was not so previously (when Unite was represented on Lantra) when labourers could see the value in improving their education and skills by, for example, learning how to use a
chain saw or obtaining a safety qualification because under the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) they achieved a pay rise. That won’t happen now and thus few young people are going to want employment in agriculture as they will remain unskilled for a long time.”
It is an issue taken up by Bev Clarkson who can recall when the government was calling on people during Covid to come forward to help pick crops. “Nobody came forward. It is because the work is backbreaking and low paid. So, if the industry does not invest in people and builds a skills path for new entrants at all levels then people of all ages are not going to consider a career in agriculture.”
Bev stressed how the AWB demolition had left workers of all ages at the mercy of their employers and although such boards do still exist in devolved administrations they are under constant attack from, ironically, such as the NFU.
Better courses needed – Unite concerned that courses seem to be aimed at management and ownership levels only
9 uniteLANDWORKER Autumn 2023
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