Young farmers need more help, TV show winner says

A woman who won the opportunity to rent a farm for 15 years on a hit TV programme has called for more support to encourage young people into agriculture.

Sara Jenkins, 28 won the latest series of Channel 4's Our Dream Farm, and said there were not enough opportunities for people her age and younger to access land.

It comes as farming leaders warn in a new report of "significant barriers" facing young farmers, and said figures highlighting the industry's ageing workforce were "scary".

The Welsh government said it supported a number of programmes to help young people "bring energy and fresh ideas" to farming.

Sara and her partner Ioan Jones became tenants of the National Trust's Llyndy Isaf - a 248 hectare (613 acre) hill farm in the heart of Eryri national park, also known as Snowdonia - after the "intense" TV content last year.

The young couple were already "making the most of it", after repeated attempts to secure farmland in recent years.

"We're very lucky," she said, "it's a massive positive knowing that we have the tenancy for 15 years".

Renting a farm was the "only realistic option" because land prices were so high, influenced in part by "big companies buying land to plant trees for carbon offset", she claimed.

It was quite an "uncertain" time to start a farming business and "quite a risk", given the continuing overhaul of subsidies and other policies, and she urged governments in both Cardiff and Westminster to "think about young farmers".

Scenes of protests and discontent within the industry in recent years "must have thrown some people off" agriculture as a career, she warned.

"I wouldn't blame any young person that doesn't want to go into farming because of all the commotion that's going on... but it will come around in a full circle.

"The country is going to realise how valuable British food is and how important farmers are to this country."

In a new report launched at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show, in Llanelwedd, Powys, the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) made 40 recommendations for how to encourage young people into the industry.

The union stressed the "key importance of attracting and retaining young talent", to safeguard food security and tackle environmental challenges while sustaining rural communities.

Teleri Fielden, FUW policy officer, said figures on the industry's ageing workforce were "scary" - with the median age of the "key decision maker" on Welsh farms being 61, and only 3% "head of holding" farmers under the age of 35.

"It's a bit concerning because we've had a generation that have been told don't go into farming - it's too hard," she said.

Prohibitive land prices and access to finance are identified as key challenges in the report, as are limited and insecure tenancies and the sale of county council farms.

The report also warned of "a significant lack of succession planning and/or willingness within the industry as a whole", with 21% of farmers polled in a recent survey stating they did not intend to retire.

Recommendations for the Welsh government included making its new Sustainable Farming Scheme work for young farmers, with more support too for agricultural colleges.

The report also encouraged existing farmers and landowners to provide tenancies and offer longer-term, secure arrangements.

"Give the next generation those opportunities," urged Ms Fielden.

There were simple things other farmers could do like "becoming a mentor, passing on your skills, leasing livestock or lending equipment", she said.

"Turning up with a little bit of help and just giving young farmers that boost to say 'yes you can do it and we're here for you' is really important."

Caleb Vater made FUW history by becoming the youngest person elected to one of the union's committees when he was just 15.

Now 18, the young farmer from Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, said he felt he had to get involved after being concerned by "the amount of my friends in farming who were saying they weren't going to go into agriculture".

"It's heart-breaking," he said, calling for more of emphasis in the school curriculum on teaching about farming.

Sara Roberts, 28, an agricultural lecturer at Coleg Sir Gar's Gelli Aur campus near Carmarthen said there was work to do too to change perceptions about a career in agriculture.

"It's an industry that's changing all the time and the stereotype of a farmer in his flat cap with a shepherd's crook on the top of a mountain really doesn't portray what it's about at the moment," she said.

"We obviously still need people who'll milk cows and drive tractors but the industry is much more than that - drone operators, people with very specialist technical skills, data analysts are required too."

The Welsh government said it continued to support young and new entrants to the agricultural industry through programmes such as Start to Farm.

"The new Sustainable Farming Scheme has been designed to be accessible to all farmers, including new entrants and tenant farmers," a spokesperson added.

"We want to make sure that new and young people can enter the industry and bring energy and fresh ideas."