Recruiting and Retaining High-Calibre Young People into the Farming Workforce 

of the Future

Tim Jackson, Principal, Sparsholt College

Agriculture/Food; Attractive Features• Beautiful rural landscape context• Varied and seasonal pattern to working life

• Exciting technical dimensions to business

• Significant investment in machinery and equipment

• Long-term employment prospects – ‘food will never go out of fashion’

Negative Perceptions• Low pay; ‘perception more than reality’• Poor working conditions• Lack of intellectual demand (oh arr)• Lack of structured career development within the employment

• Reluctance of employers to co-invest in employee training

A Central Southern England Response

• Sparsholt College + NFU• NFU personal invitations to some 

leading Businesses• Pow-wow• Endorsed ‘negative perceptions’• Considered Apprenticeship 

Academy as one potential response

Vision• A formal working partnership of leading agri-food businesses with Sparsholt College designed to attract, recruit and retain a cohort of high calibre young new entrants to a highly skilled and appropriately remunerated workforce for the Agri-Food Sector in Central Southern England.

Probable use of an ATA model• ATA = Government-backed employing 

entity• ATA employs and recharges costs 

+15%• Apprentices join Academy cohort & 

could be moved between positions• Businesses ‘take-a-stake’ in this group 

of new entrants• Pay starts low – but possibilities = 

enticing…

Operating model (formative)

• Recruit from 15-year-olds• Focus on high-calibre performers• Promote good long-term sustainable careers with Level III Apprenticeship & part-time routes to HND/HNC/Foundation Degree

• Up to 2 years F/T at College (++)• Up to 20 months on Level III Apprenticeship

Steering Group

• Vital to success• Leading businesses• Promote the profile of the Academy to encourage 

forward-looking employers  to join• To oversee the content and quality of the  offer of the 

Academy 

Steering Group

To communicate with the Agric Skills Forum established by Richard Longthorp, in seeking to influence policy towards Apprenticeships.

Richard Longthorp OBE on his farm