2010 Scottish Scholarship award winners
Starting out on their journeys of a lifetime, three Scots from the farming and rural industries have been announced winners of a 2010 Nuffield Farming Scholarship Award.Michael Blanche, Jim Baird and Andrew Scarlett will begin their travels in the USA at a week-long pre-study 'International Conference' focusing on global food and farming issues, where they will also join fellow Nuffield Scholars from around the world prior to setting off on their solo studies in the spring.
Funded by the agriculture and food industry, charities with agricultural objectives and past Scholars, the Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust awarded 21 Scholarships this year to enthusiastic people aged 22 to 45 years old.
The 'farming ladder' will be the focus of the study to be undertaken by agricultural consultant and sheep farmer, Michael Blanche, who runs 650 ewes on seasonal lets at Saline in Fife.
"I want to understand under what set of circumstances do the most effective farming ladders exist throughout the world," said Michael. "What are the systems that encourage the progress of individuals from a low capital base with restricted control of land to become established and successful farmers. Do particular policies or market forces result in greater progress in farming?"
"I'm biased, but I do think new entrants are important to UK agriculture. Having gone through the process myself, I'd also like to point to some solutions that might help others starting from nothing," he added.
Michael plans to visit USA, Australia, New Zealand and Europe to look at new entrants and their ability to progress in farming after entry. His study will be sponsored by the MacRobert Trust.
Lanark dairy farmer, Jim Baird, of Nether Affleck Farm, Kirkfieldbank, will undertake a Royal Highland Agricultural Society sponsored study looking at the 'attributes of enterprising rural businesses'.
"I want to identify the critical success factors in expanding and entrepreneurial rural-based businesses. In particular, I would like to examine the attitudes of the individuals driving these businesses and their use of the assets available to them.
"On my list of countries to visit is New Zealand to develop an understanding of their attitudes to business in an unsupported economy, and the role of capital in their succession system. I also want to visit the United States to see how central government supports entrepreneurial activity, along with China to investigate the exceptional growth of this developing economic superpower," said Jim.
Andrew Scarlett, owner and manager of Scarletts (Scotland) beekeeping and honey packing business, will travel to Europe, Australia and New Zealand, to study 'the decline of the honey bee'. Located at Meigle, Perthshire, Scarletts have some 50 million bees which pollinate vast areas of soft fruit, lowland flowers and, from July each year, the heather of the Grampian hills.
"For the last three years in Scotland we have had very poor summers and bee health has declined," explained Andrew. "There's not much we can do about the weather, but it has focused my mind on what we can do to help our bees.
"Beekeeping is financially very poorly supported, compared with the rest of agriculture, and until recently beekeepers, government and civil servants did not interact very much. Likewise, although we spend all our time on farms and have good relationships with farmers, we do not engage with organisations and policy makers who have a direct affect on land use policy and, therefore, our livelihoods.
"One example would be the breeding of new plant strains and hybrid varieties that are lacking in pollen and nectar. This factor is apparently not considered when breeding new strains of oil seed rape, for instance. One very small thing I would like to do is to meet with seed houses and authorities to see if it can be factored back in without harming farmers' yields."
Andrew hopes to visit centres of excellence that are working on bee related problems - everything from disease, to lack of forage, to changes in agriculture - in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. His study will be sponsored by Anne and Alan Beckett.
International Conference, Washington DC
Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust Director, John Stones points out that the study topics chosen by all 2010 Scholars are highly geared towards the UK farming industry and how they can benefit UK farmers. But their first Nuffield experience is truly global.
At an international gathering in Washington in March, UK award winners will be joined by Nuffield Scholars from Australia, Canada, France, Ireland and New Zealand - along with delegates from like-minded associations from around the world, such as the Eisenhower Fellowships (USA), the Executive Programme for Agricultural Producers (USA), Global Dairy Farmers (Netherlands), the Mexican Farm Co-operative and the Uruguayan Farmers.
The focus of this year's event is the 'global food crisis', with Scholars being challenged to think about world food production, its uncertainties and its interdependencies, and understand how agriculture fits within the jigsaw of world politics, energy supplies and population growth.
How can a global population of nine billion be fed healthily and sustainably? How can it be in the best interests of a nation to maintain food prices at low levels to the detriment of food producers? How, as an industry, do we place more value on food to ensure the people who produce it can maintain an equitable and sustainable existence? These are some of the questions that will be examined and debated.
"Forming part of an ambitious international learning programme run by Nuffield, the conference will help strengthen Scholar's understanding of the global food system and help them understand the implications for UK farming patterns," explains John. "But, just as important, it will also provide our Scholars with an exceptional forum for exchanging their ideas and building new networks.
"Our new Scholars will soon get a feel for the bigger picture and their new contacts are bound to bring a global dimension to their future studies."
Nuffield Farming Scholarships
Supported and sponsored by leading agribusiness organisations, charities and individuals, this year's award winners join a growing and influential group of over 600 scholars in the UK and over 1,000 worldwide, all of whom have travelled internationally and explored subjects and issues in a global context far beyond their back yards.
"A Nuffield Scholarship can open doors and provides opportunities for both life-long learning and self-improvement," points out John Stones. "For many a Scholarship experience has changed their lives. It has opened their eyes, ears and their minds to the wider world, giving them the confidence to develop their management and business skills, to pursue their personal goals, as well as to become active leaders within UK agriculture.
"Again this year, our selection panel for new Scholars was impressed with the quality of the applications, and it is reassuring to see the enthusiasm and drive of so many younger people in the industry.
"The standard of candidates was very high and to succeed in winning an award has been a real achievement. Those who did not succeed will undoubtedly be disappointed, but will be encouraged to apply again."
Information on Nuffield Farming Scholarship Awards - and how to apply - can be found at www.nuffieldscholar.org. Individuals interested in applying, but requiring further information, are also invited to contact the NFST Director, John Stones, on Tel. 01858 555544 (Email. nuffielddirector@aol.com).
Applications for the 2011 Nuffield Farming Scholarship programme will be taken up to the 15th November 2010 (latest), with shortlisted candidates being invited to attend an interview in London in late January 2011.
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2010 NUFFIELD FARMING SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS (SCOTLAND)
Michael Blanche
East Busby Farmhouse, Methven, Perth, Scotland, PH1 3SY
Tel. 01738 840999 Mob. 07841 354875 Email. michael.blanche@btconnect.com
Study: 'The farming ladder'
Agricultural consultant and farmer - specialising in breeding composite wool shedding sheep using high indexed Wiltshire Horns, Lleyns and Texels, and targeting both carcass and maternal traits.
Royal Highland Agricultural Society / Scotland Award
James (Jim) Baird
Nether Affleck Farm, Kirkfieldbank, Lanark, Scotland, ML11 9UJ
Tel. 01555 663263 Mob. 07811 571205 Email. jim@naffleck.fsnet.co.uk
Study: 'Attributes of enterprising rural businesses'
Dairy farmer in family business, milking 300 cows in two units.
Anne & Alan Beckett Award
Andrew Scarlett
Stripside of Longleys, Meigle, Perthshire, PH12 8QX
Tel. 01828 640388 Wk. 01828 640821 Mob. 07720 716391 Email. scarlettsscot@aol.com
Study: 'Halting the decline of the honey bee'
Commercial beekeeper and honey packer.
Notes to Editor:
- Founded in 1943, the Nuffield name and emblem (a bull riding a bicycle) both derive from the original benefactor, the late Lord Nuffield (William Morris). The Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust was subsequently established in 1947 and is dedicated to developing leadership in farming and the rural industries. The Trust is registered as a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity, following its incorporation in July 2003.
- The UK Trust forms part of a much wider Nuffield organisation operating in Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe, where there are similar Nuffield groups sharing the same aims and objectives. Since its establishment, the Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust has offered over 600 opportunities at home and more than 1000 worldwide for individuals with vision and energy to develop themselves and make a difference to agriculture and land-based industries.
- Funded by the agriculture and food industries, charities and trusts with agricultural objectives, as well as past Scholars themselves, the UK Trust presents around 20 new Awards each year to enthusiastic individuals who are aged between 22 and 45 years old, and who fulfil the criteria laid down by the Trust. Each Scholar will be provided with travel and subsistence costs for a period of eight weeks in return for a written paper and the presentation of study findings at an annual Winter Conference.
- Nuffield Scholars are characterised by a rich diversity of backgrounds, trades and professions. They vary from farmers, growers and foresters to business managers, to whom Nuffield offers the chance to step off the treadmill and look at their enterprises from a completely new perspective. They also include employees to fully employed professionals for whom there would otherwise be little prospect of finding the time and the funding needed to pursue a subject of genuine interest.
- Recent notable Nuffield reports have included 'Tender, tasty beef - every time', 'The profitable use of anaerobic digestion on UK farms', 'Agriculture in the school curriculum', 'Facilitating rural development', 'Best practice in farm shop retailing', 'Energy crops and the market for biomass', 'The opportunities that GM and other biotechnologies offer to both consumers and farmers' and 'A farm labour force of the future'. Many Nuffield Scholars have subsequently gone on to positively transform their industry sector, with outstanding examples shaping the development of the egg and broiler industries, crop irrigation, alternative energy sources and on-farm education.
Further information from:
JOHN STONES, Director, Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust
Tel. 01858 555544 Email. nuffielddirector@aol.com www.nuffieldscholar.org
ISSUED BY: JULIE MATE - Tel. 01948 667742, Mob. 07775 847123, Email. julie@ukagriculture.com
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