Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer
    Twitter LinkedIn
    • FREE Email Newsletters
    • About Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Contact Us
    Twitter LinkedIn
    Podcast
    Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer
    • News
      • Arable & Agronomy
      • Dealership News
      • Environmental Land Management Scheme/Policy
      • Event News
      • Health & Safety
      • Machinery
      • People
      • World News
    • Farm Machinery
      • Amenity & Maintenance
      • Cultivations
      • Drilling
      • Grassland Equipment
      • Harvesting
      • Muck & Slurry
      • Sprayers
      • Telehandlers
      • Tractors
      • Tractor of the Year
      • Tyres & Tracks
      • Whatever happened to?
    • Precision Farming
    • Markets & Policy
    • Profiles
      • National Arable and Grassland Awards
      • Company Profiles
      • Reader Profiles
    • Livestock
      • Beef
      • Dairy
      • Sheep
    • Magazines
      1. June 2025 issue
      2. Cereals event guide 2025
      3. May 2025 issue
      4. April 2025 issue
      5. March 2025 issue
      6. 2025 Tyre Developments supplement
      7. February 2025 issue
      8. National Arable and Grassland Awards supplement
      9. January 2025 issue
      10. December 2024 issue
      11. November 2024 issue
      12. October 2024 issue
      13. September 2024 issue
      14. August 2024 Issue
      15. 2024 Drills and Seeds supplement
      16. July 2024 Issue
      17. Cereals Supplement
      18. June 2024 Issue
      19. May 2024 Issue
      20. April 2024 Issue
      21. Tyres and Tracks Supplement
      22. March 2024 Issue
      23. National Arable & Grassland Award – Meet the Finalists
      24. February 2024 Issue
      25. January 2024 Issue
      26. December 2023
      27. Agritechnica Preview Supplement
      28. November 2023
      29. October 2023
      Featured

      Cereals event guide 2025 available now

      By Matthew TiltJune 20, 2025
      Recent

      Cereals event guide 2025 available now

      June 20, 2025

      June 2025 issue available now

      June 2, 2025

      May 2025 issue available now

      May 1, 2025
    • Events
    • Podcast
    Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer
    People

    Is agriculture the solution to the STEM skills gap?

    Matthew TiltBy Matthew TiltJune 11, 20213 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
    nfu_science_farming

    Leading businesses and organisations from across farming, education and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) have joined forces to discuss the STEM skills gap within the UK and the role agriculture can play in inspiring learning.

    The roundtable follows a new report by the NFU, which highlights the effectiveness of agriculture to teach STEM.

    Barriers for young people taking up STEM careers, including the lack of exciting STEM-related experiences during childhood, were discussed and the roundtable concluded that teaching through real-life and relevant scenarios such as agriculture can ignite passion for STEM subjects.

    The group, which included representatives from the Association for Science Education, Rothamstead research and Warwick University, committed to working together to ensure agriculture can be used to inspire STEM learning.

    During the roundtable, NFU president Minette Batters said: “The skills gap we are seeing in STEM careers is not just happening in agriculture but across the whole economy. It is vital that we encourage more young people into these roles by exposing them to the opportunities and potential as early as possible.

    “It’s been really encouraging to see so many organisations come together, from primary science learning and universities to some of the biggest farming and STEM businesses in the country, to align ourselves to one common goal to inspire the future generation to choose a career in STEM.

    “We know from successful past experiences of the NFU Education programme that teaching STEM subjects using agriculture can help lay the pathway for STEM careers in the future and it was great to see this group of organisations really championing this approach as a way of benefitting every industry, including agriculture, that needs STEM roles.”

    minette_batters
    NFU president Minette Batters. Credit: NFU

    Charles Nicklin, chief executive officer at the Institution of Agricultural Engineers (IAgre) said: “There are so many careers you can go into within agriculture, it’s not just farming. Over this next decade we are in for a real explosion in technology; technology in agriculture has significantly increased over the past ten years and the next steps will be developments in autonomous vehicles, drones and increased usage of precision agriculture techniques.

    “All of this is going to need some really talented people, not only to design and develop the technology but to commission it on farms, advise farmers on how to use it and of course to service and repair it when it goes wrong. This means more people coming from outside agriculture into the industry, demolishing the opinion that you need to be born into it and showing everyone what exciting roles they could be doing.”

    Hannah Russell, chief executive at the Association for Science Education (ASE) said: “We’re delighted to work with the NFU on education activities, it’s really clear why those activities are so impactful.

    “One of the main barriers we all have to think about is equity. Although many people have had the opportunity to spend more time outdoors over the past year, this hasn’t been true for everyone. Natural England’s ‘People and Nature Survey’ of children found that 73% of children from low-income households had spent less time outdoors during the pandemic. This disparity has also been reflected in ASE’s own survey of practical science during the first lockdown.

    “Agriculture has a really important part to play in outdoor learning and making sure everyone gets equal opportunities to access and benefit from it is so important.”

    Tweet
    Share
    Share
    Pin
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
    Previous ArticleKubota appoints new dealer manager
    Next Article New ownership for Merlo dealership
    Matthew Tilt
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn

    Machinery editor for Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer. Matt has worked as an agricultural machinery journalist for five years, following time spent in his family’s Worcestershire contracting business. When he’s not driving or writing about the latest farm equipment, he can be found in his local cinema, or with his headphones in, reading a good book.

    Read Similar Stories

    Calls for government to include food redistribution into SFI

    July 2, 2025

    Hertfordshire farmer faces £40,000 bill over fly-tipping incident

    June 23, 2025

    Urgent action on rural crime needed as collaboration shows promising results

    June 18, 2025
    Most Read Stories

    Calls for government to include food redistribution into SFI

    July 2, 2025

    Kramp launches own-brand PTOs

    July 1, 2025

    Turney Group to take on Merlo brand with new dedicated depot

    July 1, 2025
    Farm Contractor & Large Scale Farmer

    The UK's leading agricultural machinery journal

    Twitter LinkedIn
    © 2024 MA Agriculture Ltd, a Mark Allen Group company

    Privacy Policy | Cookies Policy | Terms & Conditions

    • Farmers Weekly
    • AA Farmer
    • Poultry News
    • Pig World

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.