Defra minister Lord De Mauley has claimed the government is working to help young people enter the farming industry. Speaking at the Fertile Minds conference for young farmers at the Rheged Centre in Penrith, Cumbria on Thursday, De Mauley outlined ways the government plans to help young farmers.

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He said, "An industry is only as good as the people in it. We need talented young people – people with the skills and passion to make a success of their career."

Echoing comments made by fellow environment department minister George Eustice earlier in the month, Lord De Mauley said, "We need a diverse set of people, both from farming and non-farming backgrounds," and claimed "There is a huge range of opportunities throughout the industry for all sorts of people with different strengths."

De Mauley pointed to the work commissioned by the government and carried out by David Fursdon and a dedicated team for the Future of Farming Review, published last year. The review team behind the report examined barriers faced by (often younger) people entering the farming industry.

First among these barriers was securing land and tenancies, though accessing the right training and mentoring, finding affordable housing in rural regions and the availability of finance were also shown to be issues. Contrary to former farming minister David Heath's contention when in office that a 'disconnect' existed, preventing young people from seizing opportunities in agriculture, the team revealed that prohibitively high expenses and the view that agriculture is a "closed shop" have done more to prevent new entrants from gaining a foothold.  

De Mauley said on Wednesday that since the review was published last summer, the conclusions reached by the team have shaped Defra's policy work.

Giving examples, the minister pointed out that allocations have been made under the new CAP budget for young farmers. In the UK, around three percent of the budget for the new basic payment scheme will be used to set up a national reserve in 2015. This will go to create entitlements for young farmers and new farmers in England.

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will be setting up their own national reserves.

De Mauley said "So if you have five hectares of eligible land at your disposal, and are in control of your business, you’ll be able to use this reserve to obtain entitlements."

New CAP regulation requires member states to develop a Young Farmers Scheme (YFS). Under the basic payment scheme proper, farmers between the ages of 18 and 40 years old, who took control of their farm business in the last 5 years, will also be entitled to an increase of up to twenty five percent of the average value of their entitlements, as part of these measures.

De Mauley said the new Rural Development Programme would support skills and knowledge exchange to help the new generation of farmers take up learning opportunities throughout their careers, enabling continued professional development.

Adding that new blood in the agriculture sector could help farming face up to the challenges the future will bring, the Defra minister said that the younger generation, which has grown up to be IT and technology savvy, will be instrumental in "Driving forward change so that the industry remains competitive and profitable."

He said that, having looked into these issues within the ornamental horticulture sector, "What struck me was the huge contrast between the potential of the sector to grow, to compete and fill markets, and the difficulty in attracting, in particular, young people to take up careers in the ornamental sector." Somehow we need to promote the huge opportunities that exist for rewarding farming careers.