Great careers in agriculture for young people

Films showcasing interesting and rewarding careers for young people in agriculture and farming are available on the new Felix Cobbold Trust YouTube channel https://youtu.be/azZuW5dnQGk.

The Felix Cobbold Trust has funded a range of films showing young people talking about the buzz they get from their jobs, including technicians, farm managers and scientists.

The East Anglian young professionals featured cover a wide range of duties and responsibilities, but all have one thing in common; they are all passionate about what they do and enthuse about the satisfaction they derive from their daily work.

They talk about the varied education pathways into jobs associated with food production, emphasising that it is not always necessary to go through the conventional route of A levels and university. There are apprenticeships with on-the-job training and BTec courses. There are routes to work to suit different interests and abilities.

James Forrest, chairman of the Trust, said, “The farming industry offers great careers for bright young people to take it into the new era of high technology and science.”

Since the film collection was launched on YouTube this summer the films have been watched by over a thousand viewers. The most popular film so far has been the one with Alex Parkinson in his tractor cab as he harvests carrots on a farm near Houghton in Norfolk. He commented, “I was really pleased to be in the career films. I started out growing vegetables for a pub, but wanted to get involved in production on a bigger scale. When I saw an apprenticeship on a farm, I jumped at it. There are so many interesting opportunities for young people in agriculture, and I would not want any other career.”

The objective of the films is to make young people, and their parents, aware of the many interesting careers available in the wider food production industry: careers with opportunities for taking responsibility and decisions, careers providing a fulfilling sense achievement.

The films are produced by Green Shoots Productions for the Felix Cobbold Trust in East Anglia.

For further information, contact Colin Smith, Felix Cobbold Trust on 01284 728316 or at colinsmith3438@gmail.com.

• The Felix Cobbold Trust was founded in 1910 by the bequest of land and money from the will of Felix Thornley Cobbold, a philanthropist from Ipswich, to provide allotments and smallholdings for the deserving poor of East Suffolk.