Farmers Guardian has joined forces with 19 key industry stakeholders, including Reverberate PR to launch a new campaign, #ThisIsAgriculture, to promote careers in agriculture.
"The challenge of recruiting is not a new one," reports Farmers Guardian. "Attracting new blood into the industry has always been an issue, with agriculture rarely sold as an exciting option into schools. However, with the pace of technological change rapidly widening the skills gap and Brexit looming, the need to drive change within the industry has intensified greatly over recent years."
The campaign kicked off by surveying 1800 16- to 35-year olds across the UK, to find out what young people really want from their careers and what could attract new talent into the agricultural sector.
The results showed that although 59 per cent said they were interested in a career in the agro industries, there was a real lack of understanding around the opportunities the sector can offer, with only 5 per cent of respondents recognising there were engineering-or science-related careers available within the agricultural industry and only 7 per cent making the connection between agriculture and environmental careers.
Through collaboration, the partners in this campaign are looking to work together to shape the political agenda, drive educational reform and provide learning resources. The campaign will also be sharing information with readers about how to attract – and retain – the right staff for farming businesses across the UK.
Here at Reverberate we are extremely passionate about this industry and believe strongly that there are great opportunities for young people within it! We look forward to sharing more with you as #ThisIsAgriculture develops further.