IN Brief:
- Only 4% of 18–24 year olds are in, or pursuing, agricultural careers.
- 83.7% of farmers reporting vacancies say applicants are scarce.
- Recommendations focus on education, entry routes, and employer capability.
A new report produced with Arla Foods UK and the School of Sustainable Food and Farming at Harper Adams University is warning that labour and skills shortages are now a food security constraint, rather than a background headache for farm businesses to absorb.
The research, built on a nationally representative YouGov survey of 1,006 people aged 18–24 completed in summer 2025, found only 4% of respondents were employed in, or actively pursuing, an agricultural career. While 58% said they would not currently consider a job in agriculture, the report notes that 42% were either open to the idea or did not have enough information to make an informed decision, pointing to a visibility problem as much as a pure recruitment one.
On the employer side, the report describes a market where vacancies exist but conversion is failing. It says 83.7% of farmers who have had vacancies reported very few, or no, applicants. That sits alongside a demographic tilt that continues to narrow the pipeline: 40% of English farm holders are over 65, while only 5% are under 35, the report states.
For food manufacturers and retailers, the implications land well beyond farm gates. Recruitment and retention gaps in primary production translate into volatility in supply planning, inconsistent crop volumes and quality, and a greater dependency on a smaller pool of skilled operators for increasingly technical roles. The report explicitly flags skills gaps in technical, digital, and environmental roles, which aligns awkwardly with a policy environment that is demanding better data, better assurance, and tighter environmental performance from raw material suppliers.
One of the report’s more pointed observations is that young people are not uniformly hostile to the idea of agriculture, but many lack meaningful exposure to it. “If we want the next generation to choose farming, we need to understand how they think and make sure the door is genuinely open to them,” Sophie Gregory, a Dorset/Devon dairy farmer, is quoted as saying.
The report’s recommendations group around awareness, attractiveness, and access. It calls for clearer and earlier careers messaging, stronger links between schools and the sector, and curriculum-aligned resources to make food and farming more visible to pupils who do not encounter it through family or geography. On access, it pushes for more structured routes into roles — including a focus on apprenticeships, employer support, and professionalised continuing development. It also argues for practical reforms to funding flows, including redirecting unspent Apprenticeships Levy funds to support on-farm training and employer capability.
The report concludes with a delivery challenge: converting shared diagnosis into coordinated action. It proposes convening a senior group of employers, education providers, and policymakers to agree a small number of high-impact actions and turn them into operating pathways that potential entrants can actually find, and use.
