TO CELEBRATE OUR 40TH ANNIVERSARY OVER £40K OF SNAPSHOT FUNDING HAS BEEN AWARDED

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The Professional Forum activites during September and november

Lady Byford - The Challenge of Eliminating Food and Fuel Poverty in the UK

The story of Westmorland Ltd - Jane Lane and Sarah Dunning. 

Valued Peer to Peer Mentoring

A visIt to the House of Lords...

Farmers Club Charitable Trust Professional Forum

Trustee News...

New Trustee

Agricultural Educator Awards 2021

Five inspiring individuals...

Four Final AGRICULTURAL EDUCATORS TO RECEIVE AWARDS IN 2021

#AGRILEADERSHIPWEEK

  

New social media campaign to raise awareness of leadership training
 

A new cross-organisation campaign is to take place in the month of May, with the aim of raising awareness of pan-industry leadership training across the agricultural career spectrum. 


Taking place between 17-21 May 2021, #AgriLeadershipWeek is a joint scheme by AHDB, Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust, Institute for Agricultural Management (IAgrM), Worshipful Company of Farmers (WCF) and The Farmers Club Charitable Trust (FCCT). 


For information about the campaign, including ways of getting involved and details of the different leadership skills training on offer, visit https://www.ahdb.org.uk/agrileadership-week


#AgriLeadershipWeek is to target current and aspiring leaders within agriculture who are unaware of or are yet to make use of any leadership training. Through the campaign, it is hoped people will become more aware of training that can not only improve them as a person but as an employee in charge of others. 


The campaign also wants to tackle the lack of formal agricultural qualifications in the UK, when compared to its international partners. Only one-in-three agricultural workers in Britain have completed any form of proper training and schooling, compared with seven-in-ten in both the Netherlands and Germany. 


Amie Burke, Skills Development Manager at AHDB, said: “Strong leadership within the sector has never been more important. The agricultural industry is both large and complex and is moving into a period of rapid change driven by political and policy changes. We’re thrilled to be working with our industry partners on such a key initiative.


Chris Graf Grote, Chairman at Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust, said: “This initiative is an important step towards making agriculture more aware of the needs for good leadership and the comprehensive training that is already available. We hope this scheme helps develop and inspire current and future generations of industry leaders.”


Karen Mercer of the WCF said: “The Worshipful Company of Farmers is delighted to be part of this important initiative. These courses have the potential to change your life, career and business in so many positive ways.” 


Victoria Bywater of IAgrM said: “The Institute of Agricultural Management are very pleased to be part of this important work where an integrated view of leadership training for the agricultural sector can be assessed and utilised. 


Stephen Fletcher, Chair of the Farmers Club Charitable Trust, said: “Investing in the future by developing our current and future agricultural leaders has never been so imperative. In a game changing collaboration, leading providers are coming together to provide a platform for the sharing of opportunities and pathways to support rural and agricultural leadership. The initiative will enable an individual to identify the most appropriate ‘leader journey’ to suit their own needs at any given time during their career.”


Throughout the third week of May each year, there will be social media support from each partner involved in the scheme showcasing the great experiences of leadership training and signposting ways to get involved and further develop yourself.  


You can share your story, watch our specially created leadership videos and enter the skills-based competitions we’ve laid on throughout the week by tweeting #AgriLeadershipWeek      


MAY 2021

Taking place between 17-21 May 2021, #AgriLeadershipWeek is a joint scheme by AHDB, Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust, Institute for Agricultural Management (IAgrM), Worshipful Company of Farmers (WCF) and The Farmers Club Charitable Trust (FCCT).  

Find out more

THE FCCT HOST A WINDSOR LEADERSHIP PROFESSIONAL FORUM

'WHAT COVID HAS TAUGHT ME...'

  

Prominent agricultural leaders were able to meet online in what was the first of a new forum for the FCCT Windsor Leadership Trust alumni. The virtual forum was an outstanding success with the programme focussing on ‘what covid-19 has taught me’ and ‘managing change in my organisation’. This was led by guest speaker Sir Clive Johnstone KBE CB a retired Royal Navy officer who had a naval career spanning nearly 34 years ending as a Vice Admiral, Royal Navy and in command of NATO's Maritime Forces. 


The impact of Covid-19 on leaders who were taking part has been significant, according to one participant it has ‘been a massive wake up call on how fragile life is, and how fragile business is’. Leaders say they are dealing with whole team impact rather than one or two individuals. The emotional and psychological impact on those leading organisations came through as a particular challenge. The benefits seen by the group moving forward is the ability to share the worry, seek support from each other and utilise the ‘collective leadership wisdom amongst the group’. 


“The ability to understand the unique issues and challenges facing us, our role in making good decisions at difficult times and our capacity to demonstrate strong leadership has never been more important” reflected Nick Green one of the Farmers Club Charitable Trust’s trustees and WLT alumnus himself. Nick added, “The groups depth of wisdom, insight and experience, allied to Sir Clive’s address gave us the opportunity to step back, consider our situation and decide what we need to do amongst a group of like-minded and trusted people.”


The Trust Ambassador Lisa Turner was delighted to have organised the event and is looking forward to supporting the group with the next session planned for February. 

Educator Awards 2020

Agricultural Educator Awards 2020

Four extremely capable individuals to benefit from the FCCT Awards

  

Four extremely capable individuals will benefit from the Farmers Club Charitable Trust’s 2020 Agricultural Educator Awards. Charles Abel reports. 


FOUR enthusiastic farming educators have been selected to receive special support from the Farmers Club Charitable Trust, undertaking innovative studies in Brazil, New Zealand, Denmark, USA and The Netherlands.


Over nearly four decades the Trust has provided close to £700,000 of funding to help agricultural educators develop their knowledge and expertise, to support a broad range of UK farming activities.


This year’s successful candidates plan to take a closer look at agri-tech, fish farming, integrated pest management and remote apprenticeship training – as soon as is practicable. 


The awards have been made despite the uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the trustees feeling it was important to maintain such an important initiative. Even so, the selection panel was delayed, taking place in September rather than the more normal early Spring date. 


“We nearly ran the panel in March, but at the very last-minute lockdown just prevented us from doing so,” reflected Trust Ambassador Lisa Turner. “So, we were really pleased to go ahead in the Club in London in September, with candidates travelling from as far afield as Northern Ireland. – it is such an important award designed to help those employed in agricultural education to widen and develop their own technical expertise through study activities either in the UK or abroad.  This round of awards has seen the trust distribute £23,300.” 


Chair of the selection panel was Prof Quintin McKellar CBE, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire, Non-Executive Director of CIEL, and Chair of the University Vocational Awards Council, Pirbright Institute Board of Trustees, and the National Centre for Universities and Business Food Economy Task Force. He was accompanied by 2020 Farmers Club Chairman Allan Stevenson and FCCT Trustees Vic Croxson and Des Lambert OBE. 


“It was wonderful to be able to gather in the Club, safely, to meet such inspiring young people, all looking to drive our industry forwards,” noted Farmers Club Chairman Allan Stevenson. “I was delighted by the high standard of applicant and really look forward to hearing how they get on with their travels in due course.”  


This year’s successful candidates

Dr Jenna Ross

Dr Jenna Ross

Dr Jenna Ross

 Dr Jenna Ross, Crop Health Protection (CHAP), Sand Hutton, York – visiting major agri-tech summits in the USA and Brazil on-line, ahead of follow-up visits once covid permits. Learning from innovative farmers, research institutes, innovation networks, advisors, start-ups, accelerators and incubators will improve understanding of agri-tech’s challenges and build collaborations to support the science and innovation UK farming will need post-Brexit.Anticipated visits include Metos Brasil, a leading agri-tech company connecting farmers with innovation hubs, and the FAPESP Pump-Priming Awards linking UK and Brazilian scientists; plus in the USA the Western Growers Innovation and Technology Centre, FARM 2050, Royse AgTech Innovation Network and BlueRiver Tech. 

John Fegan

Dr Jenna Ross

Dr Jenna Ross

 College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), Antrim, Northern Ireland – visiting Denmark and The Netherlands to see how technology can support remote learning for apprenticeships and work-based learning. The focus will be on training existing agricultural workers as well as those entering the industry. Finland, Denmark, The Netherlands and Germany have all reformed their Vocational Educational Training so learners can address individual competence needs by acquiring qualifications flexibly through programmes in educational institutions, workplaces and digital learning environments. The study will seek ideas to help train Northern Ireland’s intensive farming sector, with its high demand for a specialised workforce. 

Dr Kerry Perkins

Dr Kirsty McInnes

Dr Kirsty McInnes

Dr Kerry Perkins

 University Centre Sparsholt, Winchester – visiting New Zealand and The Netherlands to examine aquaculture for mussels and Kingfish (large mackerel) using land-based recirculating water systems. Visits will consider how each sector has developed in each country, and the educational deliverability of their innovative approaches. With mussel aquaculture production in its infancy in the UK, and Kingfish a new fish species for production in Europe, it is hoped that teaching undergraduate students current production techniques will help support the industry’s development, and help students understand technology advancements, as well as appreciate the benefits and drawbacks of bringing a new product to market. 

Dr Kirsty McInnes

Dr Kirsty McInnes

Dr Kirsty McInnes

  Newcastle University, Newcastle – comparing Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Strategies in the UK and New Zealand, by discussing with farmers, agronomists, researchers and industry what IPM strategies are commonly used, what impacts are being recorded, and just how they are measured. Can IPM help address farming’s big challenges, such as carbon capture? Is extra support needed from science, industry and governments, and how can IPM be better communicated to farmers? Learnings will be applied to student IPM projects on University farm ‘test-beds’, with sensor-based monitoring, providing hands-on experience of new and existing IPM strategies to develop easy-to-use innovations to help accelerate uptake. 

Dr. Aidan Cushnahan - 2017 Award Recipient - UNLOCK YOUR HERD'S POTENTIAL

UNLOCK YOUR HERD’S POTENTIAL

CAFRE, Dairy UK and the Ulster Farmers Union organised two successful  conferences in CAFRE Greenmount Campus and The Silverbirch Hotel, Omagh  in November 2019. The conferences for dairy farmers, titled “Unlock  your herd’s potential” focused on improvements in herd performance with  reduced antimicrobial use and improved herd management.A number of international and local speakers focused on how they, as  farmers, researchers, vets and advisers, promote herd health and  subsequent performance by focusing on herd management practices.


Aidan, CAFRE Dairying Adviser, outlined a recently completed study tour,  through the Farmers Club Charitable Trust, where he studied the factors  that may enhance the lifetime performance of dairy cows entitled:


“Is a 50,000 litre Lifetime Production Herd Average a Reality?”

Aidan discussed his findings and identified areas that farmers can  focus on in an attempt to increase herd lifetime averages. Minimising  drops in feed intake during transition, maximising feed intakes post  calving, reducing age at first calving to 24 months, increasing pre  weaning liveweight gains and adjustment of breeding strategies were  Aidan’s key points of discussion.

Learn More

View Aidan's presentation and information on the CAFRE Knowledge Transfer webpage.

Find out more

Awards AMBASSADOR

Lisa Turner

Lisa has recently been appointed to support the Trustees in promoting the bursaries and grants that the trust offers to the agricultural community (in both education, farming and allied industries). 


Trustees identified a need to improve the communication and broadcasting of outomes to a wider audience to maximises the benefits from the Trust's activities.  


With a background in both agriculture and education Lisa will become a key point of contact for colleges, universities and industries looking to expand their knowledge and skills through professional development of their staff.  


Lisa said, "I am passionate about agriculture and recognise the importance of education in ensuring its continued sustainability, to assist personally through this role will be extremely rewarding."


Soon after starting her role Lisa was invited to the Landex Spring Conference and met with Further and Higher Education leaders to explain more about the Trust and the opportunities that could be available to them.  


Anyone wanting to speak to Lisa can contact her through the 'contact us page' or


Email:  ambassador@tfcct.co.uk

Telephone: 07879 625660


Awards 2019 - THree uk farming educators selected


Innovative studies into robotic  milking, re-wilding and remote apprenticeship training chosen by the  Farmers Club Charitable Trust Educator Award selection panel led by Prof  Quintin McKellar CBE


Three UK farming educators have been selected to receive special  support from the Farmers Club Charitable Trust in 2019 to undertake  innovative studies into robotic milking, re-wilding and remote  apprenticeship training.

Prof Quintin McKellar CBE chaired the FCCT Educator Awards selection  panel, which also included 2019 Farmers Club Chairman Nick Helme, FCCT  Trustees Vic Croxson, James Cross and Des Lambert OBE and Farmers Club  Journal Editor Charles Abel.

The three successful applicants are:


  • Christopher Taylor, Wiltshire College (Lackham  Campus), Wiltshire – visiting farms in the UK, the Netherlands and  Denmark/Sweden to pinpoint just how robotic milking systems can change  dairy herd performance, creating opportunities for the next generation  of farmers to adapt a different approach to dairy farm management. Farm  labour, cow welfare, productivity and milk quality will all be  considered. The project ties in with college plans for a new £2.4m dairy  to showcase robotic milking and underpin new dairy courses.


  • Geoffrey Guy, Hartpury College, Gloucestershire –  travelling to the Netherlands, southern Sweden and China to investigate  the difficult intersection between re-wilding programmes for species  such as deer, wolves, lynx, beavers and wild boar, and other land uses,  especially farming. The main focus will be on gathering case studies, to  improve student and industry understanding of the issues, so projects  can be planned better, and also to investigate practical techniques for  managing the overlaps more successfully.
  • Peter Reed, Bicton College, Devon – travelling to  Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia in Canada to look at the pros  and cons of the ways educators there use modern communication  technologies (eg Skype, video + voice recording) to improve agricultural  business management apprenticeship training in remote areas. The main  focus will be on improving access to learning, enhancing the efficiency  of educators and imparting modern communication skills to agricultural  students. Learnings could be incorporated into UK Level 3 and 4  apprenticeship standards.


 

Prof Quintin McKellar 

FCCT Educator Awards Selection Panel Chairman Prof Quintin McKellar has been Scientific Director and Chief Executive of the Moredun Research Institute, Principal of the Royal Veterinary College of the University of London, a member of the Government Chief Scientist Steering Group on Animal and Plant Health and is now vice-chancellor of the University of Hertfordshire. He is a Board member of Universities UK, chair of the University Vocational Awards Council and the Board of Trustees of Pirbright Institute,  co-chair of the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB)  Food Economy Task Force, and Non-Executive Director of the Centre for  Innovation Excellence in Livestock.


 For more details about the FCCT Educator Awards, which have funded over £670,000 of study tours over the past 39 years, see: FCCT Reports. 


Closing date for the 2020 awards is likely to be early February. 



THE FARMERS CLUB CHARITABLE TRUST CONTINUES TO INNOVate

2018 FIVE Excellent UK Farming Educators Selected

 

The Farmers Club Charitable Trust continues to innovate – this year  adopting a fresh approach to developing educators as well as stepping up  its focus on leadership. Charles Abel reports.

FIVE excellent UK farming educators have been selected to receive  special support from the Farmers Club Charitable Trust in 2018, with a  special focus on dairying and apprenticeships.

With some common themes emerging during selection interviews the  panel took the unprecedented step of calling a round-table fine-tuning  exercise earlier this spring, so all five applicants could combine  forces to deliver an overall package to the Club, the industry, and  their students.


“It’s a case of one and one adding up to a lot more than two,” noted  Club Vice-Chairman Nick Helme, who sat on the panel. “With  apprenticeships, dairying, welfare and sustainable intensification  bubbling up throughout the short-listed candidates it was an obvious  step to call them together to see if we could make this something more  than the sum of the parts.”


Selection panel chairman Prof Ian Crute CBE, former AHDB Chief  Scientist, endorsed the approach. “The Trust bursary scheme aims to  develop up-and-coming educators, by funding a study tour, often  overseas. By working together we believe this year’s cohort will benefit  from each other as well as the travels they do.”


The fine-tuning day held in the Forty Room at the Club in late April  ensured any potential duplication was avoided, and more importantly  helped to further develop the concepts being explored. “Our aim was to  help applicants benefit each other, and it proved very worthwhile, with  lots of fresh thinking emerging to deliver more focus to the projects  being undertaken,” commented FCCT trustee and chair for the day Des  Lambert OBE, principal of Plumpton College in East Sussex from  2003-2015.


New FCCT trustee Meryl Ward MBE, chair of AHDB Pork until March 2017,  was especially keen to see how the beneficiaries could co-ordinate  activities. A WhatsApp group to share experiences and pose questions  during the research phase was an immediate outcome. 


Full reports of the  studies will be available on this website in due course,  with summaries in future issues of the The Farmers Club Journal. 

thirty years on in 2010

  

In most years the Trust makes grants of over £20,000. In 2010,  despite the economic downturn, grants totalling £30,000 were made, in  support of studies in Uruguay, Uganda, Canada, Australia, Germany and  the USA. The diversity of subjects (see list) is a wonderful testament  to the enthusiasm of the applicants and highlights the very great value  to the whole UK farming industry.


Over the years beneficiaries have come mainly from educational  establishments and the extension services throughout the United Kingdom.  Having served as ambassadors of the Farmers Club and UK farming during  their study tours many have gone on to play leading roles in the  education sector. Reports published in the Journal highlight the very  high quality of the award recipients and the excellence of their work.


The post-graduate award assists those employed in agricultural  education, aged 22 to 50, to widen and develop their own technical  expertise outside the UK, enhancing their own career prospects and  ultimately benefitting all the students for which they are responsible  by sharing their experiences with future generations working in farming  and the allied industries and professions.


The closing date for applicants is mid-February each year, with  interviews of short-listed candidates conducted in mid-March and grants  awarded thereafter, for post-graduate short-term study tours, normally  overseas and rarely exceeding six weeks.

The first thirty years

 

Thirty years ago the Farmers Club Charitable Trust was established to  “promote the science and technology of agriculture in all its aspects  for the public benefit”. Three decades later the Trust has delivered  more than £500,000 of funding for a wide range of farming projects,  taking UK agriculturalists to all four corners of the globe.


At its inception the Trustees were keen to broaden the experience of  those educating future generations of agriculturalists, and to  facilitate the exchange of academic knowledge. Thirty years later, with  the industry facing new challenges and an urgent need for a better  public understanding of valuable and proven new science, I cannot  envisage a more laudable goal.

The Trust always welcomes new funds by way of donation or legacies to  maintain this valuable work and to add to the Trust endowment funds. If  you feel that you, or an individual, organisation or trust you know can  help, please contact Club Secretary/Chief Executive, Andrei Spence, in  confidence.


Over the past 30 years more than 120 travel bursaries have supported  projects as diverse as fish farming in Japan and Korea, value-added milk  production in Australia, share farming in New Zealand and viticulture  in California. The farming implications of global positioning,  biotechnology, food legislation and molecular science have all come  under scrutiny.

The brainchild of the late Trevor Muddiman,the Trust made its first  grants in 1981,initially funded by donations and covenants from Farmers  Club members, generously matched by the late Sir John Eastwood. In the  late 1990s Trevor Muddiman’s wife, Stella, who is now a valued trustee,  very generously transferred assets from a private family trust to the  Farmers Club Charitable Trust. Over the years other club members and  their families have also made very generous gifts to the trust funds.


This has ensured that the Trust continues to meet its objectives of  disseminating information, providing bursaries, or courses connected  with the study of agriculture, and supporting activities calculated in  particular to advance education and training in agriculture.


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