Engaging With Young Farmers

Our Graduate Officer, Pip Bromley, has been talking to Young Farmers about nature friendly farming practices.  She explains why what she found out…

Engaging with farmers is essential to forming the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS), as their involvement is crucial for creating a realistic and sustainable biodiverse future. Engaging with Kent’s young farmers aimed to gather insights and perspectives on all demographics within the farming community to ensure the strategy reflects the realities and aspirations of modern farming practices.

Our initial engagement with Kent’s Young Farmer Clubs at the Kent County Show was encouraging; it showcased the young farmers’ understanding of nature’s pivotal role in agriculture. The survey was completed by 25 proactive young farmers – 13 of whom had family-owned farms, indicating a connection to the agricultural industry. They all shared a vision for integrating nature conservation with productive agriculture.

The survey highlighted that many of these farming community members had also started implementing nature-friendly farming techniques such as direct drilling and hedgerow improvement, either on family-owned farms, farms they worked on or within their businesses. However, challenges were also identified, with a shared concern being the lack of funding and the potential lack of productivity and profitability of nature-friendly farming methods.

Despite these challenges, the survey results signalled a promising shift toward the Local Nature Recovery Strategy’s goals. A clear trend was evident among the next generation of farmers, who understood the need for change in Kent’s agricultural industry, where nature recovery and farming merge to form a resilient and biodiverse future.

Moving forward, we plan to expand our outreach by posting the survey across Kent Young Farmer’s social media platforms. This will help to reach a wider audience and gather more data to ensure the LNRS is comprehensive and inclusive.