Roots to success: Rebecca Wilson

She believes having an academic, or indeed any background should not be a barrier to becoming involved in agriculture, as the industry requires a diverse range of skills to strengthen it and progress.

As the ‘Boots’ of the Boots and Heels Podcast duo, Rebecca brings the farming side to the podcast and wider social media platforms, which were established to bring together a farming and non-farming perspective with her co-host, Lizzie. The girls want to bridge the gap with the public and ask questions about farming so you don’t have to.

Rebecca also runs her own Instagram page, which has grown to a following of more than 35,000, where she documents the highs, lows, and everything in between of farming life. Aiming to help the public learn about food production, she believes social media gives us the power to tell our farming story.

Name: Rebecca Wilson

Age: 27

Location: North Yorkshire

What’s your current role? Farmer

How has continuing professional development (CPD)/training positively impacted you? As a farmer, CPD can look slightly different from my time as a rural surveyor. However, this doesn’t mean that development opportunities aren’t out there.

For me, personal development can often come through conferences and industry talks/events. These are really useful as I can learn from people who have different farming systems to mine and decide if they're doing something I could bring back to our farm.

What led you to pursue a career in this industry? Having grown up on a farm, I was always interested in agriculture and knew I would likely return to work on the farm one day.

Coming back to the farm happened sooner than planned due to family illness, but I saw my early return as a real opportunity to learn about decision making and running a business.

What do you find most rewarding about your job? I love knowing we are producing food – something vital for everyone – in a sustainable and welfare-friendly way.

Being able to utilise cutting-edge technology to do this is amazing, and it puts us as farmers in a position to lead the charge on sustainable food production.

What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your role? Often, some of the biggest challenges are those which we can do little about. For example, there's a lot of political uncertainty, making decision-making quite tricky.

One of the biggest challenges is the squeeze on profit margins, which most farmers face. It would be really great to see more equality in the supply chain to help counteract this.

What skills do you think are important for success in this industry? I believe there is such a broad range of careers in our industry that there’s most likely a role to suit any skill set. Increasingly, aptitude for computers and technology is going to be crucial for agriculture in the future. Technology will help pave our way to efficiency, sustainability, and profitability.

What advice would you give someone considering a career in agriculture/horticulture? Go for it! It can be a daunting step, especially if you're not from a farming background, but the job can be extremely rewarding.

However, while many people in the farming industry are demanding more of a work-life balance, there are often still times on the farm when hours are longer than most. Therefore, it’s crucial to pick the right sector for you and remember that not every job linked to agriculture has to be directly farming.