Some constraints on the delivery of Agricultural Training in Britain

In Britain, the inherent interest of farmers in undertaking continuing training is low. Farmers' surveys suggest that the main constraints to training are: the level of the initial education of farmers, time, policy changes, the nature of the training infrastructure, stages in the farmers' life cycle, cost, remoteness, labour force changes and the general attitude of farmers. Whilst a number of supply-led and demand management initiatives can be introduced to enhance the uptake of training amongst farmers, in general, they appear to express an overwhelming preference for other means of acquiring new skills within the Agricultural Knowledge Network (AKN), particularly for information and advice. Training may ultimately have a residual function as a means of providing new skills for farmers.