Thirty four aspiring dairy farmers have demonstrated confidence in the sector having successfully completed the inaugural Entrepreneurs in Dairying business training programme staged at three colleges in England and Wales.
Furthermore, demand for dairy business training is running at such high levels that the programme will be relaunched later this year. In the meantime, the inaugural students’ interest in financial and other focused areas of dairy farming has led the initial course to be extended.
Entrepreneurs in Dairying was designed to offer specialist instruction accompanied by a unique mentoring scheme for those who wish to progress their careers and develop their own farming business. The programme was launched and is managed by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers in collaboration with DairyCo, the NFU and The Andersons Centre.
Students from the course at Bridgwater College, Cannington Centre, Somerset
Staged at Cannington, Somerset; Newton Rigg, Cumbria and Llysfasi and Glynllifon, North Wales the programme has covered a wide variety of topics during the eight weekly training sessions from understanding world markets to succession planning, and better business and financial management. Towards the end of the programme, each student was offered the unique opportunity to be matched with a mentor for 12 months.
“We are really pleased to find that the inaugural Entrepreneurs in Dairying has met with such enthusiastic demand, even in times when industry is feeling very hard pressed,” commented RABDF policy director, Tim Brigstocke.
“RABDF had discovered first hand from its previous training and knowledge exchange activities that there was a need among people already working on farms, for example those five years out of college, herd managers and farmers’ sons and daughters without a future on the family unit. That’s certainly proved to be the case.
“These youngsters who are all keen to progress up the ladder, have demonstrated that real thirst for training in specialist areas such as how to farm in their own right through joint ventures or contracting arrangements and how to run a business. We have also provided them with an opportunity for mentoring, an important element to business training which until now has been sadly lacking in agriculture whilst it is commonplace in other sectors. We are looking forward to announcing shortly details of the 2015 Entrepreneurs in Dairying.”
For more information please contact Emily Egan, RABDF emilyegan@rabdf.co.uk or 0845 458 2711
17 students completed the course in North Wales which was held at Llysfasi and Glynllifon Colleges.