SAYFC’s Cultivating Leaders programme for 2017/18 drew to a close last week, having helped fifteen individuals develop and hone their skills in rural business and financial planning, setting them on course to achieve their future farming goals.

Between October and January, the participants attended six sessions over six days, broken in to groups of two days blocks, all taking place in Dundee. They met with industry experts, learning how to develop business plans, apply for grants, manage accounts and address issues regarding succession etc. The workshops were intended to develop the confidence of the participants involved and help them alongside similarly minded individuals.

The last day involved presentations from all of the participants, a review of the programme by the course facilitator Heather Wildman of Saviour Associates, and the presentation of certificates. The programme was supported by RBS, Galbraith, Campbell Dallas and Ledingham Chalmers, who all offered their expertise over the course of the programme.

SAYFC vice-president David Lawrie stressed the importance of equipping young people with the necessary skills to develop rural businesses in the future.

“With Brexit approaching, times are changing, and the industry needs to see young people take a step up. This course is a perfect opportunity to develop skills away from home and do just that.”

Some of the participants in the Cultivating Leaders programme were:

• John Anderson, who works on his family farm in Caithness running a mixed operation of beef, sheep and arable. Leaving school at 16, he spent two years in New Zealand working with an arable farmer, which was a real eye opener in a farming industry with no subsidies. He has recently entered into a new entrants scheme and is about to take out a five year tenancy on a local farm. John felt the course had been invaluable in helping with his business plan.

“I applied for Cultivating Leaders as I lacked business skills and it has really given me a springboard to further my learning and talking through business plans has been so helpful. Succession was a big topic on the course and one I now feel I can look to address more capably in the future.”

• Jenny Brunton hails from Anstruther, Fife, where her family run a mixed farm of 300 sheep, 100 cattle and grow cereals, mainly seeds. A politics and history graduate from Glasgow Caledonian and now an assistant manager at Silverdyke Holiday Park, she is involved with the running of 100 holiday homes and six lodges and is fully integrated in the business. Jenny applied for the scheme in the hope of finding the confidence to know how to move her career forward.

“I applied for cultivating leaders because I had all these ideas and didn’t know how to get there and implement them," she said. "The course was a great opportunity to learn from others and it has made me realise what I am capable of and I feel less daunted about taking new steps to further my career.”

• Angus Dowell, an arable farmer in Arbroath, is looking to diversify in to wine making and by attending the course, it has given him the boost to turn his plan in to action.

“As one of nine growers of honey berries in Scotland I recognised the good prospects for making wine and by joining the course I’m now looking at winery courses at Plumpton college and have the skills, contacts and knowledge to look at applying for grants to take forward my wine business.”

• The youngest participant on the course at 18-years-old was Andrew McMillan from the Isle of Bute, a student of agriculture at Barony college who also works on a dairy farm back in Bute. Not coming from a family farm, but connected via grandparents who worked in the industry, Andrew is determined to look at developing his own business and building his own herd post college.

“My biggest aim is to have my own farm or a tenanted farm and run my own business looking after cattle. On the Isle of Bute, people are retiring or leaving the island and I see this as an opportunity to get new young people in to embrace change, there is a need for enthusiasm and ideas on the island.”

• Laura Mitchell, who works part time on her family farm in the Scottish Borders but also at the RPID office in Galashiels. Laura attended the course as she is very keen to get more involved with the family farm which currently runs two operations, one in Hawick and one in Berwick.

“Cultivating Leaders had a fantastic network of attendants and speakers, you learn so many business skills from different people. I learnt a lot about accounts, which is an area I struggle with and I now feel capable of creating a detailed business plan which has given me clear direction of where I want to go. My overall goal is to work at home full time and cultivating leaders has given me greater confidence to achieve this.”

• Kirsty Kinloch from Kinross, who graduated from Oatridge and landed her first job as a land review officer for the Scottish Government in Oban for 15 months. When she returned home, she decided to work on the family farm, where she learnt from her dad how to shift the sheep on the hills and decided she wanted to become more involved in the family business, inspiring her to partake in the Cultivating Leaders course.

“I want to become an asset to the farm rather than a cost," she said. "Dad has done the same thing for years and although it is efficient I want to see how I can implement my own role to benefit the business. There was always some assumption boys would farm but I’ve decided to take on the role and feel much better equipped since completing the course to become valuable to the farm moving forward.”