The National Farmers’ Union (NFU), Newark and Notts Agricultural Society and Nottingham Trent University’s Brackenhurst campus are joining forces to launch the Nottinghamshire Fresh Start Academy.

The academy will be launched at this year’s Newark and Nottinghamshire Show on 8 May.

Based on the national Fresh Start initiative, the Nottinghamshire scheme aims to encourage and support new entrants to farming and hopes to promote an entrepreneurial culture among the next generation of the county’s food producers.

The NFU’s county chairman Simon Bust said: “The NFU has been working with Nottingham Trent University to adapt the national Fresh Start scheme to provide more one-to-one advice to people wanting to develop a career in farming. We are delighted that the scheme is being launched at the show.

“Fresh Start will provide a great opportunity for the next generation to gain practical and hands-on experience through a mentoring scheme, rather than through classroom learning. There’s nothing like experience and practical knowledge and we feel that the county’s farmers and farm managers have a lot to give our industry’s new starters, whether in developing basic farming knowledge or diversifying into different crops or on-farm enterprises.”

The NFU’s stand at the Newark and Notts Show will feature a range of information on careers in food, farming and the countryside. Recent reports have shown that farming and associated industries need 60,000 new people to take up jobs and careers in the next 10 years in order to produce food and fuel for a growing world population.

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