Farmers Advised to Use Winter for Knowledge Transfer
With the harvest safely in, and the clocks changed, Vicky
Anderson, the North of
England’s foremost independent agricultural trainer is
urging farmers to use the dark
winter nights to get ahead and get the training they need to
develop their
businesses. From now until potentially 2013, through
LandSkills North East she is
offering a wide range of courses with support and funding of
up to 70%.
The aim of LandSkills North East, which is managed by Lantra
on behalf of One
North East, is to support the growth of existing
agricultural and forestry businesses
with relevant training and skills development. The project
offers up to 70% funding
to assist with all types of knowledge transfer activities
from general business skills
through to technical training and advice on animal health
and resource
management.
Since being launched in October 2009 over 2511 people have
been beneficiaries
through a diverse range of training programmes. Working with
Vicky Anderson
Training, LandSkills North East wants to ensure that
hundreds more rural
practitioners benefit from practical, technical and
management courses.
Current courses all of which are listed on
http://www.vatraining.co.uk range from Dry Stone
Walling to Sit On ATV, Manual Handling and Forklift Driving,
to Artificial
Insemination, Rabbit & Mole Control and Cattle Foot
Trimming, Nutrient
Management, IT for Business and Integrated Crop Management.
Vicky explains, “It is vital that farmers keep themselves
and their workforce up to
date in order to move their business forwards and to pass on
knowledge. We are
finding this particularly useful for young people who may
not want to carry on with
school or college but who still want to learn new skills and
for people who want to
broaden their skill set to make themselves more employable.
For instance, milkers
who finish early in the day could still earn money doing
another job on the farm.”
Skills development is also vital to ensure that farms and
their employees are
compliant with current legislation. Vicky has found for
instance that many employers
are currently unaware that anyone under the age of 28 must
now have a certificate
in order to drive a trailer.
Another barrier to people seeking training in rural areas
can often be the distances
involved, however there is complete flexibly and where
possible courses are
arranged within close proximity of the work place.
LandSkills Project Manager Peter Nailon explains: “Vicky
Anderson Training is a well
established professional training provider who is delivering
a wide range of training
activities at locations across the region. This fits with
our aim to take training to the
people rather than people having to travel to urban centres
for training.”
LandSkills North East managed by Lantra Sector Skills
Council on behalf of the
Regional Development Agency, One North East, is part of the
Rural Development
Programme for England (RDPE) which is funded by Defra and
the European
Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.
For more information on the courses available through Vicky
Anderson Training
please telephone 01609 882408 or visit http://www.vatraining.co.uk
For more information please visit
http://www.lantra.co.uk/LandSkillsNortheast or contact the
LandSkills North East team on 0845 2788800