Timely reminder of skills gap in land-based sector

Up to 30,000 new entrants could be needed by 2020 to fill the technical and commercial skills gap in Scotland’s land-based industries. The figures, from the skills council for the land-based sector, Lantra, reveal that in the farming, aquaculture and environment industries the demand for technical and commercial skills has risen sharply over the last five to 10 years.

There is a growing demand for more advanced technical skills in animal handling, disease identification, control and bio-security as standards in animal health and welfare increase.

In addition, agronomy and intensive farming methods are now calling for new skills to cope with increasingly sophisticated machinery, automation systems, robotics and ICT technology.

And higher standards in food quality, traceability and quality assurance are triggering off their own needs in a changing industry.

The results from the Lantra survey underscore the dramatic need for increased training in the land-based sector. It is right that a modern, dynamic Scottish countryside should seek a skilled labour force to allow it to play its vital role in the economy. The question is, what is Lantra going to do about it?

Firstly, the survey offers some clear indicators of the skills required.

The results come on the eve of Lantra’s prestigious and commendable Learner of theYear awards ceremony to be held in Dunblane next month. Significantly, award entries this year are at a record level and the highest number since the awards were launched in 2003.

We are assured that the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) and Skills Development Scotland (SDS) have been working with Lantra and employers to provide practical solutions to meet many of the skills demands, spearheaded by the Modern Apprenticeship Scheme.

Lantra has also confirmed that there has been an increase in the number of young people applying for apprenticeship schemes — a process that has hitherto been tortuous and slow.

Over the last 4½ years a total of 2,190 people have registered to undertake a Modern Apprenticeship Scheme across the land-based sectors, a slight improvement year on year from less than 400 in 2009.

The skills council for the sector has also said it is consulting with the industry on more advanced SVQ level 4 and 5 professional and technical apprenticeships which could provide what is termed a “more comprehensive mix of technical, academic and commercial skill sets.”

On the surface these are encouraging signs, but the figure of an additional 30,000 new entrants poignantly illustrates the degree of challenge that lies ahead for a progressive land-based sector.

The results of the survey are singularly helpful in highlighting the long-term needs of the land-based sector, and with that must come a proactive promotion of the Modern Apprenticeship Scheme.

The ultimate demand from Scotland’s farming and environmental industries is to be equipped with a fully trained workforce with work programmes wholly attuned to the future needs of the industry.

Lantra is clearly focused on this, but it is debatable how clearly its strategies and functions are widely understood.

The profile of the organisation is low. It has failed to achieve the resonance that the old Agricultural Training Board mustered and for the simple reason that the purpose and role of the ATB was easily understood.

Terminology and semantics are critical: a ‘skills council for the land-based sector’ hardly trips of the tongue, and leads to confusion about the organisation. It does not provide an attractive badge that is suitable for the challenges of providing a highly trained workforce.

There is also the need to look beyond training. And this is an issue for the wider industry. What Scotland has historically lacked is a career structure in the landbased industries. This is vitally important when skills are in short supply, but even more so when the future needs of the indigenous industries have been so graphically identified.

There was never a timelier wake up call than the Lantra survey.

A holistic approach is required, allied to underscoring the vital role of the Scottish food industry and of seeing all its component parts as key players in securing the future of rural Scotland, and as a force in feeding a projected world population of nine billion people by 2050.

It is also about selling agriculture as a career, and shedding the all-too-familiar historical imagery of farm work as dangerous, poorly paid, and offering little security and fewer prospects.