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A special podcast commissioned by the agri-food business ABP which operates from sites in Newry and Lurgan has revealed that the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on the variety of roles available and is giving young people the confidence to pursue future employment in the sector.
Speaking on the ‘Now We’re Talking Farming’ podcast with host Karen Patterson, Dr Andrew Bell, a part-time beef farmer from Stewartstown and Head of Biology at Belfast Royal Academy. Dr Bell said that ‘young people are growing up in a world of work that has shifted rapidly as a result of Covid-19 and that he was hopeful about the future for young people in Northern Ireland’s agri-food sector. One of Dr Bell’s pupils, 18-year old Lorcan Convery, from Templepatrick won an outstanding individual achievement award on ABP’s agri-skills development programme for teenagers, the ABP Angus Youth Challenge’. In the podcast Lorcan explains how he now wants to pursue business studies at university and that he competed in the programme because he saw it as ‘something completely different that could help him.’
Also taking part in the podcast is the Education Adviser for the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise, Liz Simpson, said, “The pandemic has profiled the diversity and the dynamics of the industry and the long-held careers that are there. There has been a confidence boost in people working in the land-based sector because of the recognition their roles have been getting from the wider public during the pandemic. Students are seeing the jobs that are available through the spotlight on key workers within agriculture, production, and processing and in food retail. I am also regularly being contacted by agri-food companies looking for graduates and who are offering work placements during the past few months.”
The podcast is running throughout the summer and is available to watch/listen in to at the ABP Food Group Website.
View Podcast below
Edit 7/8/20 - Above link fixed
