Agriculture should be ‘properly embedded within the National Curriculum for the science, maths and geography disciplines’, according to a Defra-commissioned Future of Farming committee. Its report, published this month, says more needs to be done to inspire children to take up farming by emphasising the high-tech, innovative side of the business, and it needs a ‘demonstrable form of professional qualification’.
Other problems facing prospective farmers are the lack of council farms and the reluctance of older farmers to retire; the latter issue is exacerbated by the CAP and the Inheritance Tax situation-the report says farmers need help to plan retirement and that Agricultural Property Relief needs modifying.
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‘The balance has swung too far against new opportunity in agriculture,’ comments review chair David Fursdon. ‘This is not healthy and the solution cannot depend on market forces alone.’
A survey by the Future of Farming committee of ‘young’ (under 40) farmers finds that-unsur-
prisingly-lack of capital is the main barrier to people going into farming and a common theme was a call for Government start-up funding or low-interest loans. When asked what they would advise putative farmers, 25% responded ‘You have to want to do it’, only 9% said it was a rewarding option and 3% said ‘Don’t do it’.
Out of the 400 respondents, 32% were in the job for the lifestyle and 28% because it was their family background; 13% were motivated by an interest in food production and 12% viewed
it as a career opportunity.
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