IT is vital to look for training opportunities outside of your employer, says 38-year-old farm manager Sam Briant-Evans, who graduated from the Institute of Agricultural Management’s (IAgrM) Leadership Development Programme in 2018.
Sam manages 13 members of staff on the 1,000-hectare, 800-dairycow operation on the Velcourtmanaged Clinton Devon Estate Farms, Devon, and has been in the role since February 2020.
“While I’d always wanted to go into farming, 10 years ago I couldn’t have imagined that I’d be farm manager for such a high profile estate,” says Sam.
While he credits his employer with pushing him hard and offering opportunities, he says his IAgrM training has been important to his career progression.
Having studied agriculture at Cirencester, Sam entered farming through Velcourt’s management training programme, working his way up to farm manager at another of the company’s businesses, Castle Hill Estate in North Devon.
“I had been in the job at Caste Hill about eight years and done a lot of development,” says Sam.
“I was happy with my employer but my role had developed and I wanted to get a broader understanding of agriculture and its interlinking sectors.
“Increasingly as your career progresses you find yourself around more and more knowledgeable people and you need to be able to hold your own with them.
I also wanted to improve my team management skills,” he says.
“Velcourt has an enormous skill set within it, but I also wanted to meet other people outside the company and broaden my horizons.” He considered applying for a Nuffield Scholarship, but did not think the time commitment needed would be possible for him.
So he broached the subject at his next appraisal and his manager suggested the IAgrM course.
Development
Sam enrolled on the course and studied policy, international affairs, management and communication skills, and personal development, with a week in Brussels, London, and Cirencester.
“The whole experience was very eye opening,” remembers Sam.
“The other course attendees were all excelling in their fields – and there was a moment where I realised that I must be excelling too.” The personal development was most valuable, says Sam, and he saw the biggest difference at board meetings.
“The course showed me how to better present myself and how I might be viewed by other people.
It gave me more confidence in my own abilities and knowledge and how to get my points across in an assertive, but polite way, while also teaching me how to listen and take on board other views.” What he learned has become more important as he’s taken on increasing responsibility, he says.
“It has helped me deal with people at a strategic level but I am also now a better manager and leader.
I listen to feedback more and understand individuals better so I can get the best from them.”
Invaluable
The opportunity to network with other individuals at the top of their game was also invaluable, says Sam, and he now has a book of contacts to call on who can help open doors that might not have been possible otherwise.
“I would definitely consider training outside my employer again.
The industry really struggles to find good farm managers, so it is vital we have good young people progressing in it,” he says.
“Talk to your employer about training – it will make the whole process easier and any good employer should be looking at it anyway.”
