Children ‘discouraged’ from careers in agriculture

Press, 25 January 1988, Page 3

Children ‘discouraged’ from careers in agriculture

By

JANE DUNBAR

Farmers are discouraging their children from going into farming, says a field officer for the North Canterbury Farm Cadet scheme, Mrs Mary-Jean McLauchlan. Numbers of young people wanting to join the cadet scheme have dropped nationally — with a 50 per cent drop in the Waikato being a dramatic example. “Many parents are discouraging their young from farming, as they can’t see a future in it,” said Mrs McLauchlan. “The value of their retirement home has been eroded, and they are un-

able to support other wage earners on the farm.” Career advisors in schools were also discouraging young people from the agriculture industry, and so farmers’ sons and daughters were choosing careers outside the-industry. The perceived feeling that the Government was discouraging agriculture as a productive industry in the medium term was part of the problem, she said. In spite of the doom and gloom, however, Mrs McLauchlan believes there is a positive future for farm cadets.

“We’ve got more work on our books than ever,” she said. Farmers had had problems with other supplies of labour, and cadets were seen as the best option, as they were known for their commitment to agriculture. “As soon as there’s greater profitability in farming, there’ll be even more work to be done,” she said. Farmers knew how to cut back to the bone and were deferring maintenance. But the work was there, she said. In the long term, corporate farming was also encouraging, as qualified

farm managers and staff would be needed. “In the future cadets (of today) will have no problem in commanding good wages and conditions. They’ll probably be receiving a higher income than most present farm owners do.” Administered by Federated Farmers, there are 16 farm cadet schemes run throughout the country. The scheme worked like an apprenticeship and was well supported by the industry, said Mrs McLauchlan. There have been 60 applications in North Canterbury for this year’s scheme.