The document discusses career opportunities in agriculture and the food supply chain. It notes that the number of jobs and organizations in this sector has been increasing in recent years, with an expected 148,000 new jobs and 447,000 job openings between 2014-2020. There are a wide variety of roles available beyond just farming, including jobs in science, engineering, marketing, logistics and more. Many employers like supermarkets and food producers offer opportunities across the supply chain as well.

1. The numbers employed, and the number of organisations in agriculture has
been increasing in recent years.
Career Matters
October 2016 / Issue 4.4
30
Mark Yates looks
at a growing but
little-known
career area
ow often do you get asked about agriculture and
food supply industries? Did you know employers
like Lloyds, Santander, McDonald’s, Waitrose
and Tesco all have career opportunities for staff with
agricultural knowledge and qualifications? This article
will hopefully show that it’s not all about flat caps and
driving muck spreaders. The following statistics, taken
from a report by Lantra in 2014, demonstrate that these
industries have the potential to be excellent places to
build a career.
There will be:
• an additional 148,000 new jobs between 2014 and
2020.
• there will be another 447,000 jobs becoming available
over this time period due to people leaving agriculture
because of retirement and other factors.
The numbers employed, and the number of organisations
in agriculture has been increasing in recent years:
• 97,400 agriculture sector establishments in 2015
(93,900 in 2013)
• 402,500 agriculture sector employees in 2015 (381,600
in 2013)
• 3rd biggest sector in percentage growth of employment
• 1 in 3 skilled trades and 1 in 3 machine operatives’ jobs
unfilled due to skills shortages.
Not all of these 402,500 employees will be farmers or
tractor drivers. There are a huge variety of job roles and
employers in each part of the ‘farm to fork’ process, with
a very diverse range of organisations to work for.
The following job roles demonstrate the range available
within the agriculture sector, from those directly involved
with farming, to many others:
• Farm manager – arable, mixed, animal
• Agronomist – soil science
• Nutritionist
• Land surveyor
• Agricultural land officer
• Contractors – e.g. spraying, harvesting, artificial
insemination
• Farm advisers/consultants
• Tractor/technology consultants
• Plant and animal breed advisers
• Agricultural engineers
• Journalists/PR consultants
• Agricultural marketing
• Research scientists
• Policy advisers
• Logistics managers
• Sales – everything from seeds, breeds, equipment and
poly tunnels!
• Finance and business related
• Agricultural economist and related e.g. grain broker
• Commercial horticulturalist.
As can be seen, there is a range of roles, all needing
very different skills and qualifications. So, not only are
there positions for students who want an outdoorsy
type job and who like working with animals or plants,
but there are varied opportunities for students who
are interested in science and engineering too. In fact,
tractors are becoming more and more high tech too, with
satellite systems enabling more targeted use of sprays
etc. For those students who are very good at science,
plant and animal breeding can offer opportunities to do
research into animal science, genetics and plant science
to help address world productivity, animal welfare or
science issues too. For students who are interested in
business and farming, but may not want to do hands-on
farming work, roles like farm secretary (where there is a
shortage, and can be done as a self-employed option), or
finance companies with opportunities for accountants,
insurance work or bank relationship managers might
appeal. These roles will need people who understand
agriculture, something that the ICAEW recognise with
their Farming and Rural Group, which aims to keep
accountants up-to-date on farming issues.
The Supply Chain
The supply chain has its own specific roles. There will
be some overlap in roles between farmers, suppliers
and the Animal and Plant Health Authority (APHA). For
instance some quality assurance and inspection roles
will be undertaken by suppliers, supermarkets and APHA
to work with farmers to ensure quality and consistency
whilst preventing any potential food scare stories!
• Retail and supermarkets – agriculture/produce
managers, specialisms in pig, poultry, fish, beef/lamb,
veg
• Suppliers/processors – these will either be
cooperatives, like Arla, or organisations like 2 Sisters
and ABP Food Group. These organisations will have a
range of career opportunities that reflect the business
of buying produce directly from farmers, which is of
course then turned into products to sell.
These are just some of the possible roles for these
companies:
• Quality assurance roles - working with farmers to
ensure animal welfare, ethics and production values are
met
• Contracts management with supermarkets and other
clients
• New product development staff who will be developing,
FROM FARM TO FORK
AGRICULTURE AND THE FOOD
SUPPLY CHAIN
Occupational
information
H

2. Career Matters
October 2016 / Issue 4.4
31
testing and producing new products to sell
• Packaging technologists - there is increasing attention
being paid to packaging, to ensure food is kept as fresh
as possible, to extend shelf life, whilst increasing its
‘attractiveness’ to consumers
• Process Development Technologists – provide the
‘link’ between production teams and new development
teams. This will involve collecting data from factory
trials and needs a good understanding of food science
and manufacturing.
• Supply chain analysts
• Engineering.
Apart from working in farming and the supply chain,
there are also other opportunities that students can look
at. The following are some that are worth highlighting:
• DEFRA manage the Animal and Plant Health Authority
to ‘safeguard animal and plant health for the benefit
of people, the environment and the economy’ (APHA
website). A definite destination for several research
scientists and vets who want to work with animals or
plants.
• World Bank opportunities – to help increase
productivity, food security, community development
• European Union/European Commission – agriculture is
seen as very important, there are several roles, ranging
from policy, rural development and farm support
• Journalism, PR and communications – farming may not
be the first sector that comes to mind for these types
of roles but there are several opportunities to do this
type of work. And you could end up being one of the
agricultural advisers for The Archers!
As with any industry, the size of organisations to work
for in farming and the supply chain vary considerably.
Companies like Bidwells and Strutt and Parker who
manage farms and offer agronomy/consultancy support
amongst other services are big, well established
companies. At the other end of the scale, there will
be some farms where it is just the farmer who takes a
salary from the business. Throw in the option of farming
organically, or with rare breeds alongside the option
of ‘mass production’ farms and students face a varied
choice of the type of farming they could do and the
size of organisation to work with, some of whom have
production units all over the world.
Getting in
Entry requirements and routes into these roles are
numerous. For farming, there are several routes in,
apprenticeships, FE courses and agriculture/agronomy
degree courses. These degrees will sometimes have
work placement years too. There is plenty of careers
information available online, some websites are listed
below.
No article about career opportunities would be complete
without reference to salary expectations. There are
some that think that farming incomes are all low and
insecure. Whilst there is some truth in this, especially for
some sheep farmers at the moment, most of these other
jobs mentioned can earn considerably above the national
average wage, and in some cases double!
These websites will provide further information about
routes in, salaries and curriculum resources that
teachers/advisers can use, the first 3 are particularly
good. www.brightcrop.org.uk/ information about careers
and useful classroom resources
www.lantra.co.uk/careers/discover-career
information about careers
www.face-online.org.uk/teachers Very useful website,
including curriculum resources and info about farm
visits!
www.iagsa.co.uk/ - Institute of Agricultural Secretaries
and Administrators
www.gov.uk/government/organisations/animal-and-
plant-health-agency/about/recruitment
www.agrifj.co.uk/ specialist recruitment agency
www.delacyexecutive.co.uk/ specialist recruitment
agency
www.prospects.ac.uk
www.naac.co.uk/news/ national amenity and
agricultural contractors.
And lastly, did you know that the Bee Farmers
Association have launched an apprenticeship in Bee
Keeping? There are currently seven apprentices
nationally, working with experienced bee farmers. A full-
time bee farmer can manage up to 300 hives. There are
opportunities to do this part-time and freelance as well.
For 2017 entry,
www.rowsehoney.co.uk/about-us/bee-a-beefarmer/
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MarkYates is an HE
Careers Adviser, CDI
Council Member and
freelance writer
For those
students
who are
very good at
science, plant
and animal
breeding
can offer
opportunities
to do research
into animal
science,
genetics and
plant science.
Occupational
information