Training the future

An initiative, Dairy Skills Scotland, has been launched in Dumfries & Galloway up north in the UK. NFU Scotland, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and Skills Development Scotland are also among the backers of the scheme. While attracting less attention than the Commonwealth Games being held in Glasgow this week and next, it can possibly be a further reaching initiative for the local youths than the inspiration of the games on young athletes. Indeed, the idea is to attract school leavers with no farm experience and train them up as dairy farmers, showing them the types of work required for running a dairy business.

One of the things that students often don’t realise is the vast array of jobs available in the dairy farming community – the business of farming encompasses everything from animal husbandry to accounting and chemistry. And getting youth involved Is key, as the age of the average farmer increases and the issue of succession is a pressing one, no matter where your farm is located.

Dairy processors too have their succession issues. Which is why I was heartened to see Shepherd’s Purse founder Judy Bell’s daughters and granddaughters helping out at a show I attended in Harrogate recently. Overall, initiatives such as dairy Skills Scotland should be widespread. The future and security of dairy is too important to leave up to chance.