Aspiring young farmers from Weymouth College and Kingston Maurward College had the opportunity to voice their concerns about the future of agriculture during a visit from two Members of Parliament last week.
West Dorset MP Edward Morello and Alistair Carmichael, MP for Orkney and Shetland and Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, visited the Kingston Maurward campus near Dorchester on Friday as part of a national inquiry into the future of farming.
The MPs toured the College’s 750-acre estate before sitting down with Agriculture students for an open and honest discussion about the challenges facing the industry. Topics ranged from inheritance tax and fuel prices to land diversification, environmental stewardship, and rural resilience.
Many of the students, who come from farming backgrounds, welcomed the chance to ask questions and share their perspectives directly with policymakers.
Student Louisa Hayward said: “I thought this was a great opportunity to speak to other members of the agricultural society, who can help create a change in the workplace as these difficult times for lots of farmers.
“This gave us, as young farmers, the opportunity to voice our opinions and ask valuable questions on where we think the future of farming is heading, and what we can do to help the industry succeed.”
Skye Slater-Starr added: “I found it very constructive and informative talking to such knowledgeable and powerful members of the government, about such important topics of conversation within the agricultural industry.
“I particularly enjoyed being able to ask our own questions regarding areas we had special interest/concern in. They answered very thoughtfully and in detail, and I was able to learn lots.”
Mr Carmichael asked students about the types of farming they were interested in and encouraged them to continue with determination, despite challenges.
“This is an industry you should be proud to be a part of,” he commented. “You do something that’s enormously important to the rest of the country.”
Both MPs highlighted the growing political focus on farming.
Mr Morello commented: “It is easy to be negative when we look at the challenges we face, but if you flip this around, we have never talked about farming more than we do at the moment. For the first time ever we are talking about farming all the time in politics, in newspapers. This is when we can make positive change.”
Mr Carmichael said that popular television shows such as ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ were helping to educate the public on what farming actually involved and the challenges faced by the industry, saying that this was “hugely important”.
He added: “If we can make the case for why the rest of the country needs its farms, we will get political support. We just need to give the industry a bigger voice.”
Find out more about Weymouth and Kingston Maurward College here: https://wkmc.ac.uk/
With around 100 members any business in Dorset can join Dorchester Chamber from business for £60p/a (no VAT).
