Why are young people in agriculture harder to find?

The Oxford Farming Conference Fringes had some excellent panels this year, one of the big ones was to get more young people in agriculture. They pointed out some interesting reasons and also ways the industry can change to become more appealing. I wanted to focus on the way the industry is marketed, and how I feel technology is replacing many of these in demand jobs. At present, around 60% of school aged children wouldn’t even consider careers as young people in agriculture and horticulture.  

Early interventions to get more young people in agriculture

Child psychologist have studied different age groups to find out what they believe they want to do as they grow older. One study of 1,000 teenagers, aged 13-17, showed that 91% of them already had an idea of what they were going to do. Some studies have suggested that children as young as 8 have already got a path they want to take. Exposure at an early age seems to have a big factor as to what children see as viable career paths. Showing children that farming and growing is how the entire industry looks, gives a warped perspective on all the jobs surrounding farming. Some young people in agriculture are analysts, agronomists, and many more job roles. 

Alternative fields of study for young people in agriculture

There needs to be more effort put into speaking to college and university students who are taking fields outside of agriculture. Psychology, data analyst, and software developers, are all in demand specialisms that are needed in the industry. Data analysts are incredibly important for using data to create effective prediction models. This can also be done through software, such as LiveFarmer. Technology is constantly evolving, and more and more processes are being automated. Farm management software can link all your operations together, collect the data in one place, and build reports and models for you. Which is also a lot cheaper than hiring a specialist. 

Sensors and data collection 

The data you collect can be invaluable, and help you make crucial decisions. Manual testing for soil is one way farmers and growers keep track of how healthy their crop soil is. With the advancements in technology, you can install sensors that automatically keep track of this data, and automatically uploads it to your farm management software.