Insightful

Today marks the launch of the fourth, and potentially most important, year of our #ThisIsAgriculture campaign, at a moment in time when showcasing careers throughout the industry has never been more crucial.

With some good-looking forage maize crops this season, there is a strong argument for preserving that potential. What can be done to guard against the multiple threats in the clamp?

After recruiting and training your staff, you want to keep hold of them, but how? Jez Fredenburgh speaks to farm employers and employees about how to boost retention.

A survey run by Farmers Guardian earlier this year revealed 50 per cent of farming employees said they had gained skills independently of their employer, reflecting a desire to upskill themselves. Jez Fredenburgh takes a look at the some of the key training opportunities available.

Victoria and William Newsham took responsibility for their father’s Lancashire dairy herd after he died in September 2019. Since then they have made impressive changes to management, improving productivity and efficiency to secure the farm’s future.

Get training from outside of your employer to reach your career goals, say farmers who proactively sought to improve their skills and career development. Jez Fredenburgh reports.

With the primary aim of providing a break crop between reseeding of grass leys, for one Carmarthenshire dairy farm, root crops also provided a much-needed source of extra feed for cows and helped extend dwindling forage reserves.

Skilled staff are vital to farm business success, but training does not have to mean endless expensive courses for employers to fund. Jez Fredenburgh speaks to a training consultancy specialist to find out what options are out there to benefit both parties.

The winter period, and all of its associated feed costs, will have motivated many farmers to start reassessing their future feeding strategy. Faced with ever fluctuating feed and milk prices, more and more farmers are looking to improve business margins by increasing the amount of milk they produce from forage.