Working in an agricultural environment can be very rewarding if you like working outdoors. There are more than 192,000 farms in the United Kingdom so there’s plenty of work to go around. As a farm labourer, you’ll spend your days doing a wide range of jobs but you’ll need to make sure you’re qualified before applying for a job.
There are lots of different ways you can get into working as a farm labourer including doing a college course, an apprenticeship or by directly applying to train on the job.
Recent Article: What Does A Farm Labourer Do
In this guide, we will look at what to expect when training as a farm labourer and what other skills you might need to be successful in this role.
What Does A Farm Labourer Do?
Farm labourers never have a boring day as there’s always something different to do. While the tasks you perform will depend on the type of farm you work on, here are some of the things that you could expect to do.
- Taking care of farm animals including feeding and cleaning
- Preventing disease among crops and livestock
- Working with machinery including milking machinery when working on a dairy farm.
- Sowing seeds, ploughing fields and harvesting
- Repairing tools and machinery
- Looking after farm buildings including cleaning and maintenance
- Trimming hedges and other foliage
- General repairs around the farm
What Qualifications Do I Need To Be A Farm Labourer?
There are three main ways that you can get into a career as a farm labourer. Which you choose will depend on how you learn and what is available in your area.
Apprenticeship
An apprenticeship is a brilliant way of learning new skills and gaining qualifications without having to spend your entire week in a classroom setting. That said, you would still have to do some formal sessions but these are usually for no more than ten hours a week.
The other 30 hours of your week will be spent shadowing a trained farm labourer learning skills on the job.
The obvious benefit of doing an apprenticeship is that you will be paid. This is ideal for people who have commitments that mean they cannot be out of work while they are training. According to the UK government, there is a National Minimum Wage for apprentices which your employer must meet.
There are different types of apprenticeships that you could apply at both intermediate and advanced levels.
College Course
One of the best ways to get into farm labouring is to apply for a college course. This will give you a formal certificate which you can use to have a better chance when applying for jobs.
The college course you complete will depend on the type of farm work you’re looking to do. For example, if you want to work on a dairy farm then a Level 1 in Practical farm Animal Care Skills would work well. However, for more general knowledge and a higher certificate, you could take a Level 3 Diploma in Agriculture.
For any college course, there will be a minimum requirement for entry. This usually means having 2 GCSEs grades 1-3 for a Level 1 course, 2 GCSEs grade 9-3 for Level 2 course and 4 to 5 GCSEs grade 9-4 for a Level 3 course.
Direct Application
If you don’t want to or cannot go through any formal training then there may be farms that will allow you to apply directly. You’ll then be shown what to do as you work, learning new skills as you go. However, in order to do this, you will need to have had some previous experience on a farm such as a weekend job picking crops or working with animals.
If you’re keen to get work experience, there are many farms that will be happy to take you on as an unpaid intern. This experience can be invaluable when it comes to applying for jobs.
How Much Does A Farm Labourer Earn?
Once you have trained as a farm labourer, you could earn up to £25,000 per year. This is for more experienced farm labourers and the typical starting wage is around £18,000. For this wage, you will be expected to work between 46 and 48 hours per week. Additionally, you will be expected to work on evenings and weekends as well as Bank Holidays.
This might not seem like a huge wage but becoming a farm labourer is an important step to becoming a supervisor or contractor within the agricultural industry.
What Additional Skills Do I Need To Become A Farm Labourer?
As well as gaining your formal qualifications, there are other skills that you will need in order to be successful in your new career as a farm labourer.
You will need to be able to work well as part of a team as well as being able to use your own initiative. It’s important for a farm labourer to be physically fit as this job involves a lot of manual work. Being good with your hands is also a plus.
When working as a farm labourer, you will need to pay close attention to detail. There may be times that you need to repair and maintain tools and machinery so a technical knowledge of this is important.
Since your day to day role will vary, you need to be able to adapt to change. If you’re someone that doesn’t want to be tied down to doing the same monotonous tasks every day, then this might be a job that interests you.
Conclusion
If you have been considering becoming a farm labourer then you’ll need to make sure that you have a good knowledge of the job. While it is possible to apply directly and train as you go, completing a college course will give you a formal qualification. This will then help you to progress your career and move into things like supervising and contracting.