Nurturing the next generation of farmers and learning from Sir Alastair Cook - The Yorkshire Post says

All objectives for the country’s political parties as an election looms, they are, in fact, the life lessons being set out by the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs in a new training programme.

New approach to get young farmers to broach tricky succession talks with parentsEntitled Ready and Resilient, the intention is to help young people learn the life skills that will leave them better-placed to run family farms in the future – and withstand the many challenges, Brexit aside, which will continue to confront the agricultural industry in years to come.

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It is hard work, as many farmers will attest. But it can also be incredibly rewarding as Sir Alastair Cook, the former England cricket captain, attests in his just-published autobiography in which he describes his first-hand experiences of lambing and how farm work gives him both “a different element of identity” and “sense of peace” that helped invigorate him before so many of his great innings.

And while Brexit remains the great political imponderable, even more so after this week’s Parliamentary turmoil, agriculture will be as important as ever, even more so with an increased emphasis on locally-sourced food.

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As such, it is even more important that there are programmes in place to encourage young people to pursue a career in farming – or an allied industry. Without them, the countryside will not only be a poorer place but the country will be more dependent on food imports – the precise opposite of current political intentions.