Morning, Friday, 25th April 2025
Online
This conference will focus on next steps for building skills in the UK agri-food workforce.
Stakeholders and policymakers will assess the direction and key issues for policy going forward, as well as developments such as the establishment of Skills England, and what will be needed to ensure that the sector and those who work in it are prepared for future challenges, demands and opportunities.
Areas for discussion include best practice for attracting domestic workers to the sector, including improving accessibility and increasing diversity in agricultural work, as well as opportunities for integrating agri-food skills into higher education and increasing training flexibility. The agenda also looks at approaches to make apprenticeships and other courses more accessible and aligned with sector needs, following the announcement of a new growth and skills levy.
We expect discussion on the investment and resources needed to support both national and regional sector growth, alongside building net zero skills. The agenda will bring out latest thinking on increasing sustainable agriculture and training to meet climate adaptation challenges, employer demands and developing green and sustainable practices, as highlighted in Skills England’s Driving Growth and Widening Opportunities report.
Further sessions focus on strategies for addressing labour shortages and boosting productivity, including evaluating opportunities for innovation and improving access to farm technology and automation, such as AI prediction and analysis models, as well as how best to tackle exploitation of migrant workers.
With the agenda currently in its drafting stage, areas for discussion include:
- assessing priorities for the Government, including policy and strategic options for:
- bridging skills gaps outlined in Skills England’s Driving Growth and Widening Opportunities report
- long-term strategy for developing domestic workforce capabilities - roles and responsibilities in the agri-food and education sectors, and for policymakers
- tackling domestic labour shortages and supporting food security:
- priorities for businesses - providing apprenticeships and training - impact and implementation of the new growth and skills levy - building net zero skills
- improving the attractiveness of the sector - workforce diversity strategies - accessibility to training, skills enhancement and career development - workforce data collection and monitoring
- new approaches to agricultural education - flexible training
- investment, innovation and supporting green skills in the agri-food sector:
- options for expanding farm automation - improving infrastructure - incentivising uptake of new technologies - opportunities for increasing collaboration to scale technology and innovation
- utilisation of new technologies - AI crop health, harvest prediction models, and soil analysis models - livestock management to increase productivity
- tackling barriers - rising maintenance costs - access to new technologies - developing cost and time-effective infrastructure - supporting different business types - financing the transition
- tackling exploitation and reducing reliance on migrant workers:
- recommendations outlined in Migration Advisory Committee’s Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Scheme report
- Seasonal Worker Scheme reform - improving flexibility and transparency - mitigating added costs
