Young farmers hear how collaboration can help the industry

Young farmers have heard how greater collaboration within agriculture can help the industry respond to the challenges created by Brexit, the coronavirus pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.

The National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs (NFYFC) hosted a debate about the importance of teamwork in helping to promote UK agriculture at a time of uncertainty over future rural policy and market volatility.

NFYFC’s Charlotte Garbutt, an agronomist and new entrant farmer from Lincolnshire, chaired the online event, which featured the organisation’s youth forum chairwoman Rosie Finney and two special guests.

See also: Young farmers vote to source and better promote British food

Eat Well for Less? TV presenter Chris Bavin said young farmers were well-placed to promote their industry to consumers via social media.

But Mr Bavin, who has 25 years’ experience working in the fruit and veg sector, recognised there is a considerable amount of work to do to bridge the gap to the consumer and communicate why it has never been so important to back British farming.

He said: “There appears to be more of a disconnect in this country with farming, with food and all the things we need to survive.

“Food security, sustainability and the global food industry has been shaken and called into question like never before and we need to make sure that our farming and agriculture industries are as strong as possible.

“I would like to see, somehow, the connection between the public and the farming industry brought closer together.”

Mr Bavin suggested greater collaboration between the vast number of people, groups and organisations involved in the food industry could help promote British farming.

“There are lots of groups within the same sort of ‘world’ but doing slightly different things – make sure you are reaching out to them. Everyone has a connection to food, so in that sense it is very inclusive,” he said.

Charlie Curtis, a farm consultant and head of agriculture and environment at Cool Farm Alliance, said farmers needed to share ideas to help the industry meet its environmental targets.

“The passion and desire is 100% there. Matt Waldie, a farmer I saw in Scotland, had me spellbound with the work he is doing.

“He said anybody can speak to him or go and see him. This is the sort of thing we want. If we can get these really progressive thinkers opening their doors, it will hopefully start a groundswell of movement.”

Home Grown campaign

The debate was organised as part of National Young Farmers’ Week, running from 17-21 October and supported by Oxbury Bank.

Throughout the week, NFYFC is promoting its Home Grown campaign, which encourages consumers to shop locally and do more cooking from scratch.

The organisation’s country chairs from across England and Wales brought produce from their homes to a recent meeting in Bristol, where they created a hamper to donate to local charity, the Wild Goose Café.

NFYFC chairman Ed Dungait said: “YFC members voted at our AGM to promote British food and farming, and the #HomeGrown campaign is a positive way for us to do that.”