25 March 2019
Soon after Farming Connect launched its flagship personal development programme, the Agri Academy in 2012, it took Rural Leadership Programme (RLP) candidates to meet agricultural policy leaders at the EU Parliament in Brussels.
Seven years later, those hugely educational annual study visits to Brussels and Europe needed to be reconsidered. The political landscape has changed both for the Agri Academy and its 200 alumni. Those fortunate individuals yet to be selected for the 2019 RLP programme will visit the headquarters of the World Trade Organisation in Geneva.
So, as the world discusses Brexit and its implications, what is uppermost in the minds of the ‘RLP Class of 2012’ today? When they meet up for one of their regular reunions – most have kept in close touch over the years - do they talk about Brexit? Apparently not!
This particular RLP group were the very first intake of candidates for the RLP, which is a joint collaboration with the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society. Seven years on, with their number now boosted by a number of like-minded spouses and partners, they are still friends, still supporting each other, and most are very visible, vocal rural leaders influencing the rural agenda in Wales as it braces itself for the likelihood of life outside the EU. Together, they speak volumes for the benefits of the programme, which year on year attracts a diverse range of applications from individuals of all ages, representing many areas of rural life in Wales.
The Agri Academy 2019 application window for the Rural Leadership Programme, Business & Innovation Programme and Junior Programme (targeted at those aged 16 – 19 years) is open now until 31 March.
Each programme centres around three intensive three-day periods which include networking meetings, mentoring, media training and an overseas study visit. Junior candidates are also offered the chance of work experience, providing a much-valued notch on every cv.
“At that first weekend in 2012, we seemed to be a completely random group of individuals of all ages and professions. There were the dairy, beef and sheep farmers we probably all expected, but there were also lawyers, surveyors, land agents and many others who had diversified and were running successful rural businesses alongside day to day farming. What none of us expected is the life-affirming friendships, support networks and guidance that continue today, seven years down the line.”
This quote is from Keri Davies, who farms at Glwydcaenewydd, a 330 acre organic beef and sheep holding in Crai, who hosted the first reunion of 2019 in one of his supersized 5* holiday barn conversions. The latest gathering was billed as an opportunity to pause, review their achievements in the last five years and consider their plans for the future as the agriculture industry gears up for an uncertain future outside the EU.
According to group member Dr. Catherine Nakielny, an agricultural consultant and renowned sheep expert, the focus is always on issues the individuals can control themselves, so discussions usually centre on future performance levels, achieving as much as they can at a ‘personal, business and community level’.
Rural solicitor Dr Nerys Llewelyn Jones of Agri Advisor, says that the benefits of joining the Agri Academy have for her been immeasurable.
“It introduced us to new ways of thinking and provided an opportunity to develop leadership skills so that we could become advocates and spokespeople for our rural communities.
“The benefits are difficult to quantify, but there’s no doubt in my mind that the Agri Academy experience, with its focus on emotional intelligence and holistic wellbeing, impacts on how we all live our lives.
Nuffield scholar Gail Jenkins, a rural surveyor and farmer also says the Agri Academy experience was life-changing.
“I will never forget an ice-breaker activity which saw us all sticking post-it notes of advice for each other on a white board after our early discussions.
“Over the course of the weekend we had the opportunity to listen to each other, to be inspired, encouraged and most importantly to talk honestly and openly about ourselves and our hopes for the future.
“I must have said something about seeking the confidence to travel, as I found a note from group member Chris Hanks. It just said ‘go and see the world, you can do this’.
“I did, through my Nuffield Scholarship!”
Chris, a chemistry graduate and renewables expert who works at a 2,000 acre farm in the Vale of Glamorgan was one of those early candidates who, like the others is emphatic about the Agri-Academy’s impact on his life and others.
“I’d always wanted to put something back into the industry and was keen to get the word out to school children, especially those in urban areas, that a career on the land should be something they might seriously want to consider.”
Today, both Chris Hanks and Emily Davies, a rural retail specialist who now works for Hybu Cig Cymru, and Lady Ambassador for this year’s Royal Welsh Show, have joined forces with well known Glamorgan dairy farmer Abi Reader. Together with Abi (RLP 2014) and a number of other Agri Academy alumni, they will all help launch Abi’s latest Cows on Tour roadshow project to schoolchildren throughout Wales this spring.
If you know someone who might benefit from joining the Farming Connect Agri Academy, encourage them to apply today. For further information on this year’s programme and to download application forms, click here. The deadline closes on 31 March 2019.