“Training will put more money on the bottom line. It has to be top of the list every time. Consumers have high aspirations for animal welfare, food safety and environmental management etc. With a skills focussed industry, they’ll know they’re eating food that’s been produced to the highest standards.” Read more...

Richard Longthorp OBE on his farm

 Understands the importance of skills.

 

Richard is a pig and arable farmer based at Howden in East Yorkshire.

LKL Farming is a family business run with wife Diane looking after admin, son Jonathan running the arable and contracting and daughter Anna running her own division - Anna's Happy Trotters Yorkshire Free Range Pork.

A member of LEAF, the farm business grows wheat, OSR, oats, Miscanthus and vining peas for Birds Eye and produces pigs which go into the Waitrose supply chain.

The former chairman of the National Pig Association Richard is not only a member of the IAB but sits on the board of BPEX, Chair for the AgriSkills Forum strategy group and Lantra's National Council for England.

Richard’s passion for skills and the industry were the reason behind Richard joining the LandSkills IAB.  “I’m particularly passionate about the skills the industry already has but for which it receives little recognition. I am keen for the industry to be seen as professional - the definition of which is the ‘participation in an activity for gain or reward with a high degree of competence that is clearly demonstrable. Inspiring confidence.’  It’s the bit about being clearly demonstrable that is the area industry needs to work on and is why it is so important for skills and skills development activities to be recorded - so that they can be recognised.

“Since the IAB began we have funded a huge range of activities and helped hundreds of beneficiaries. This is good use of RDPE funding and should give the government and public absolute confidence that the money is not only being well spent but will ensure that the nations' farmers are fully prepared and capable of meeting the challenges of food security and climate change.”