Young Farmers Get Top Brass Support
Sir Don Curry has openly praised members of Young Farmers’ Clubs (YFCs) who take up training opportunities to help secure a tenancy.
Sir Don highlighted in his recent report [1] the importance of county council farms and that there was a 58% reduction of tenants in 2006 compared with 1984 and as land availability falls, the need for good business skills increases.
"It is essential in the current tenancy climate for young people to train and practise their business skills in order to compete successfully for a tenancy.
The sector needs forward-thinking people who are equipped to face the many demands of the rural economy and the environment. It is very heartening to see more training available for those who are willing to learn from professionals and apply this knowledge to further their career aspirations. I am delighted to see that both the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) and Savills have provided their expertise to support this much-needed service for young people."
The National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) includes a farm business development competition in its national competitions programme which is sponsored by the TFA and supported by Defra. Competitors use the particulars of a case-study farm which they can view to prepare and submit a business tender before being interviewed by a panel of experts. Winning team members are awarded Oxford Farming Conference scholarships to continue their personal development. NFYFC research undertaken in 2007 showed that 25% of respondents had ambitions to become farm tenants.[2]
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Former competition winners Daniel Downes and Aled Davies acknowledged that the competition provided an ideal chance to think hard about costs on a large scale and about making money on the farm. They also agreed that the interview process with industry experts would stand them in good stead for years to come.
In addition to the competition, NFYFC now provides a tenancy training day for future competitors or YFC members with an interest in improving their business skills. Savills and TFA have lent their expertise to develop a training day with NFYFC which will be replicated year on year.
The TFA has been the main sponsor of the competition for a number of years and TFA Chief Executive George Dunn was pleased to support the training day organised by NFYFC and Savills. "Putting together a proposal to rent a farm from a landowner is not something that many agricultural colleges include as part of their curriculum. It is of great importance that those wishing to rent holdings know how to structure a tender document and conduct themselves if selected for interview for a farm. The training day provides the young people involved with both a landlord’s and tenant’s perspective of the whole process which should stand them in good stead in the future."
Clive Beer, Director of Savills Rural Professional Services, joined the judging panel for the 2008 NFYFC National Farm Business Development Competition and commented: "I was impressed by the competition and subsequently offered the opportunity of a tenancy training day for YFC members.
"I am continually disappointed with the quality of rent tender applications that we receive and am therefore committed to offering training opportunities to provide practical training that will have benefits to those becoming new entrants."
