Young people urged to consider career in farming

This is to address recent reports that the country is "falling behind" on certain climate objectives.

Author: Alex DukePublished 3rd Mar 2023

Young people are being urged to consider careers in farming by the country's biggest dairy company.

This is to help the industry get back on track, after reports that the UK is falling behind on its national carbon emissions.

Research conducted by Arla found that nearly 40% of Gen Z want an analytical, whilst 25% want something that includes scientific testing.

Also, nearly half of 18-24 year olds were not aware that dairy farmers work towards lowering carbon emissions, and 67% did not know that farmers use technology to gather data and work to boost the sustainability of their farms.

"The environment is entirely pivotal to everything that we do here"

Arla is on track to meet its 2050 Net Zero climate commitment.

Adam Johnstone is a farmer based in Hampshire - he explains why he thinks younger people aren't as interested in becoming farmers.

"People under 30 don't necessarily see it as a career option. It's not a career option they consider at school or university.

But actually there's a lot of skills that they learn, and that people would like to excel at, that are utilisable in the agricultural industry."

He also emphasised how climate change and farming are very closely linked:

"The environment is entirely pivotal to everything that we do here, and that is intrinsically linked with climate change.

"For us as a farm, besides looking after the animals as best we can and running the business, climate change and tackling the environment, and issues associated is top of the list."

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