Paying it forward
Kaleb is also working on addressing the issue of student placements.
“I’ve got a young apprentice on my farm. I left school and went straight into work, and he said he wants to do the same so I was like: ‘right, we’re away’.
“With the RAU, I can support people, but the biggest problem is trying to find a placement and that’s what I’m trying to tackle at the moment. I don’t want students to have to worry about having a placement. I’m trying to get farmers together where they can go out and agree to taking one or two students each year.”
It’s all about paying it forward.
“The average age of a farmer is 62, which is fine, but those 62-year-olds have got to teach the young kids the industry. They’ve got so much knowledge up here [pointing vigorously to his head] that they need to pass on to these younger kids coming through who are going to be the future of farming. Then, in another 60 years, they can then go ‘I got taught this at 13 years old, so I’m now going to teach another 13-year-old’.”
Photograph: Paul Nicholls and the Royal Agricultural University.
Dreams don’t work unless you do
For young people keen to get into farming, Kaleb has one main message: “Dreams don’t work unless you do.”
He added: “I’m a firm believer in setting a goal and getting there. There’s going to be a few barriers along the way but you either put your head down and go through those barriers or you stand still.”
He also champions the old-school approach of going down to the farm gate and simply chatting to the farmer.
“Go down to your local farmer and offer to help. They’re probably going to be stubborn because they’re thinking ‘I’ve got to pay another person’ but while you’re speaking to them, just give them a hand if you can because as soon as you do, they’ll go ‘oh, you’re actually really useful, actually I could do with another person on this farm’ and then you’ll get the job, I’m sure you will.”
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