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Dynamic and global in mindset, today’s young farmers are a brand new breed hungry for international know-how and strategic business skills. More opportunities in formal agriculture studies and vocational training have also produced a generation of farmers that are more qualified than ever, with many graduates among them. Globalisation has brought the worldwide farming community closer and the challenges faced in agriculture are similar in many regions.Given this backdrop, platforms like Agritechnica that facilitate networking and exchange among farmers have become crucial and highly relevant. At the fourth European Young Farmers and Student Days organised by DLG, the German Federation of Rural Youth (BDL) and the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA), participants from all over Europe and the world will gather at Agritechnica to interact with each other and get to know other stakeholders in agribusiness.
Career opportunities and the outlook for international agriculture will once again be high on the agenda. Attendees at the event include young people in agriculture and their representative organisations, with many coming from eastern Europe. Agricultural students from universities in both the US and Canada also plan to attend, along with global placement services based in the US and Australia.
Such international participation reflects the need for today’s farmers to look beyond their home countries for help and inspiration in planning for the future. Challenges faced by the farming community everywhere, such as climate change and sustainable growth, create a common basis upon which issues and policies can be discussed. By bringing young farmers together, the Agritechnica event encourages global dialogue among youth in agriculture while also introducing career and learning opportunities abroad.
“The Young Farmers Day at Agritechnica has grown by nearly 30 percent in participant numbers since its inception in 2003” says Stephanie Jürgens, DLG’s project manager for the Young Farmers Day. “This reflects the desire young people have for interaction with their peers in other countries. Cross-border interaction broadens the perspectives of young farmers as they seek to address similar issues faced in the farming business everywhere.”
As part of the programme, five farmers from Europe and the American continent will present their business, strategy and management ideas for the farming business. Also in the pipeline is a career management forum that presents the options available in agriculture, including international opportunities. Potential employers from top machinery companies will also be on hand to interact with participants and answer career-related queries.
Jürgens elaborates: “We’ve worked closely with CEJA, which has a network of around one million young farmers all over Europe, to put together a programme with a wide international appeal. Young farmers are constantly looking for new approaches to the market and new available technologies. We want Agritechnica to be the forum not just for Europe’s young entrepreneurs but also for those in the Americas and CIS countries.”
The two-day event starts on 12 November at 1 p.m. with presentations on study trips abroad. The highlight on Day 1 is the European farmers’ meeting. Business management and strategic planning issues will be addressed by five speakers from different countries sharing their personal experiences. This will be followed by an interactive discussion with the audience.
The second session kicks off at 10.30 a.m. the next day with a half-day programme on careers in management and engineering, sponsored by the Association of German Engineers (VDI). Participants will get to hear first-hand from leading manufacturers, who will share insights on career development, personnel skill requirements to management level, job application tips and salary expectations. A separate engineering forum will zoom in on engineering careers in agriculture, an area of expertise that is expected to become increasingly important with greater reliance on high-tech and complex machinery.
True to the spirit of the young and young at heart, the forum ends on Friday, 12 November with a Young Farmers’ Party for the 2000 young farmer and student participants.
Proceedings will be conducted in German with simultaneous translations in English and French where appropriate. For more information, please visit www.agritechnica.com/youngfarmersday.html
Event details:
The Young Farmers Day takes place at the Convention Centre (CC), Exhibition Grounds room 3.
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