Future Farmers of Yorkshire are now inviting its members to apply for a bursary place on this year’s RABDF Entrepreneurs in Dairying course, starting in the autumn.
This business training programme is for aspiring dairy producers and is organised by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers in collaboration with The Andersons Centre, AHDB Dairy and the NFU.
A Future Farmers bursary is available to cover the course costs and accommodation for the programme’s in-person training.
Entrepreneurs in Dairying has seen nearly 400 applicants successfully complete the course, all from varying backgrounds within or related to the industry.
The course has provided applicants with contacts and connections to go on and establish their own businesses, whether it be share partnerships, joint ventures, tenancies or development of their existing businesses.
2023 details and how to apply for a bursary place
The 2023 Entrepreneurs in Dairying course will be a mixture of face-to-face and online sessions and will run from 11th October to 7th December.
Details of the full course programme are available here.
Applications are open until 31st August to attend the 2023 course via the above link.
Testimonial from Future Farmer Ed Harrison
I would like to express my thanks to Future Farmers of Yorkshire for the sponsorship for the Entrepreneurs in Dairying course.
A bit about myself – my name’s Ed, I’m 20 years old and live and work on our family farm in North Yorkshire which is mainly dairy. We are milking through three Lely A5 astronauts.
I found the Entrepreneurs in Dairying course really helpful to comprehend the logistical side of running our family farm.
I haven’t had much involvement in the decision making or looking into farm finances before going on the course, as I’m the youngest in the family.
After the course and discussing the topics of the course with my parents, I’ve been included a lot more with such things, especially now were utilising grants for capital investment.
It’s as if my opinion is respected more now than before.
Since I live and work on our family farm, one day it is likely that me and my brother will be running the farm in place of our parents.
On the Entrepreneurs in Dairying course, we discussed in detail what’s expected in management positions such as: people and time management, recruiting staff and the importance of retaining staff.
I think this will stand me in good stead when transitioning into a management role on our farm in the future.
Benefits of making connections
One thing that the course may not have intended to do which I found helpful, was the fact that it brought farmers together from all over the UK.
Having not gone to university or college to study agriculture, the majority of my farming knowledge comes from my father and brother, so I found this especially helpful as I got to talk to other farmers about practices on their farms and what’s working well and what isn’t.
Most of what I know is purely based off what we do on our farm.
To sum up, Entrepreneurs in Dairying has introduced me to the behind the scenes of running our farm and I’m now more involved with decisions and meetings which I wouldn’t have been before, such as choosing the AI bulls, attending meetings put on by our vets about new practices we should be doing, helping to decide which slurry separator to purchase, and reviewing end of year accounts with the business partners.
