Trainee Agriculture Advisor

Background

The Wyre Rivers Trust is a registered charity with a remit to improve the ecological status of the river Wyre and its catchment.

Founded by three angling clubs and supported by many community groups, the Trust started small with localised projects to improve habitat, especially spawning conditions, for all fish species and completed with contractors and volunteers. However, since 2013 the Trust has grown, became host of the Wyre Waters Catchment Partnership and is now delivering works at the catchment scale with a host of far-reaching benefits.

Projects address a range of issues impacting upon biodiversity, water quality, and water quantity, and tackle these with solutions such as natural flood management, habitat creation and habitat connectivity. The Trust has recently created an Integrated Catchment Plan containing a comprehensive list of priorities within the Wyre catchment, reviewed, and agreed by our partners. Following this process, the trust was successful in securing funding to support the Brock and Calder Landscape Recovery Project, one of a number of national projects working to deliver the highest tier of the Environmental Land Management Schemes. Within this project, there are five posts which WRT will recruit for within the first 6 months of the project development phase.

To help develop skills within the project area, we have elected to employ a Trainee Agriculture Advisor as part of the project development phase. Finding candidates with the correct skills for agricultural advice often proves difficult, so we would like to employ a candidate who wishes to develop their skills in order to become an effective farm advisor. The role would suit a candidate based in the local area, particularly a young farmer or a someone from a farming background. The candidate will be provided with training opportunities to build their skills and will effectively shadow the Senior Agriculture Advisor for the last 18 months of the development phase, further developing their skills via peer-to-peer learning and by gaining experience on the ground, working with farmers as part of the project.

The role will be based at the Wyre RT Offices at Myerscough College, Lancashire. The candidate will be expected to work across the entire catchment and a large amount of time within any given week will be spent outside. The officer will report to the Brock and Calder Landscape Recovery Project Manager & Wyre Rivers Trust General Manager.

Job Purpose:

The Trainee Agriculture Advisor (TAA) will be responsible for working with the senior Agriculture Advisor to gather data and information which will be used to develop the implementation plans. This role is integral to the delivery of the development phase, and it will help to develop skills within the local community. It has become exceedingly difficult to recruit skilled farm advisors, therefore it is one of the aims of this development phase to recruit, train and upskill a local farm advisor with an excellent working knowledge of the project area. This will ensure that the project has and continues to have a long-lasting connection to the local community. As the candidate develops within the trainee farm advisor role, they will assist other project team members with the production of other plans required in the development phase.

Closing Date: Friday 10th May 2024 

Job Start Date: Monday 2nd of September 2024