Next Generation and SAYFC representatives meet with Cabinet Secretary at RHS
All the excitement of the Royal Highland Show has now settled and what a brilliant show it was! It is always a great opportunity to network and catch up with friends, and this year the Next Generation Committee had great political engagement too.
Representatives from NFUS and SAYFC met with Cabinet Secretary Mairi Gougeon to discuss new entrants. In attendance from NFUS was Matthew Steel (Chair of Next Gen), Ben McClymont (Vice Chair), Andrew Connon (Vice President) and myself.
We focused on the key issues; access to funding, succession and training provision. We underlined the importance of support for new entrants, and the lack of opportunities there is to get into agriculture.
We explained the Scottish Government need to invest in Scottish agriculture. In the case of new entrants, government need to help provide financial support, subject to relevant business plans.
We know from our members there is an issue with inaccessible grant funding. Many grants are unattainable, as the criteria is very hard to meet and is too prescriptive. This can deter new entrants from growing and progressing their businesses.
Training was another issue discussed, as there needs to be sufficient available funding for training, for all levels of people in the business, including CPD. It is great to have apprenticeship schemes and university education, but we also need to retain these people in the sector by providing appropriate CPD training. We also took the opportunity to explain we have responded to the Scottish Governments skills review, and how we want to see the recommendations from that review be taken forward.
Along with SAYFC, we explained how so many young people are passionate about agriculture and want to work in the sector, but there are very limited opportunities.
Overall, it was a fantastic meeting, and we certainly got our messages across. Mairi Gougeon is keen to engage with us further on these issues, and we look forward to keeping the line of communication open.