The UK government has this week awarded a £650,000, four-year contract to give civil servants a first-hand grounding in farming
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) has appointed the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Allerton Project to deliver the Baseline Agricultural Training Progamme— combining classroom learning with on-farm, practical experience for staff responsible for policy, regulation and engagement with the farming sector.
Officials will be introduced to core elements of British farming — including soils, crops, livestock systems and commercial pressures — through structured sessions and visits to working agricultural sites. For many attendees, the time spent on commercial farms may well be their first direct encounter with the realities of food production and rural land management.
Defra has defended the investment as a sensible way to deepen internal understanding and strengthen relationships between policymakers and the agricultural community.