The Greater Lincolnshire Forum for Agriculture and Horticulture met in September to debate the challenges of meeting future workforce and skills needs in the industry. Hosted at the Lincoln Institute for AgriFood Technology the meeting discussed the next Local Skills Improvement Plan (LSIP), local & national challenges linked to securing the skills needed for the future, and how Lincolnshire’s priorities can help inform government policy.

With around 75,000 people employed in farming and the food chain locally and productivity ahead of the national average, Lincolnshire has a strong foundation. But discussions made clear that to keep Lincolnshire at the forefront of UK food production, it must continue to develop the workforce.  This means not only attracting and training young people but also upskilling the existing workforce.  Priorities the forum identified included:

  • Inspiring young people to choose careers in food, farming and horticulture
  • Building more clusters and mentoring networks to share knowledge and skills
  • Supporting businesses to diversify and upskill their workforce
  • Growing pride in Lincolnshire’s agrifood sector and challenging outdated myths about the industry and the types of skills it needs and the jobs which are available

Clusters and knowledge sharing were also discussed as areas where Greater Lincolnshire demonstrates good practice but can definitely build on further.  Going forward, there is a great opportunity to feed the industry’s experience and priorities into the review of the Local Skills Improvement Plan, which Katrina Pierce, Forum Member, will be leading on for Greater Lincolnshire.

The Forum wants to see agriculture and horticulture fully represented in the next LSIP, so the industry should look to get involved in this work as it rolls out over the next few months.  Ensuring the LSIP has a strong focus on the agrifood sector will not only help with developing talent locally through Lincolnshire’s colleges but also help with future funding bids to develop the skills system.

Forum members agreed that Greater Lincolnshire has the right ingredients for continued growth of the sector, but still needs to ensure everyone, including those outside the sector, recognise this.

The meeting was followed by a tour of the new geothermal glasshouse at Riseholme, a UK first, led by Forum member and Director of LIAT, Professor Simon Pearson.