PROSPECTS FOR PROFESSIONAL-TRAINING IN FARMING

The rapid decline in the numbers of apprentice "farmers" since the mid-80's cannot be entirely attributed to the demographic trough. In this article, the author examines the causes and consequences of this development, which is characteristic of the situation of farming today, and offers some prospective courses of action. Falling attendances at training courses are primarily due to uncertainty concerning the future management of farms. Potential farm managers are evidently trying to hedge their bets by training for professions outside the field of agriculture. These decisions are being taken against the background of the shaky economic situation of many farms, the marked tendency to hand farms down within the family, the increased attention being paid to modes of life of the farm hands, and a certain resignation regarding the future of farming. Hence there are indications that farmers are changing the strategies they have hitherto employed for securing their livelihoods: the goal of perpetuating the existence of the farm is being progressively replaced by the heir to the farm's desire to secure his individual professional future. We can expect far-reaching consequences from this development for the agricultural training system (lack of trainees), for the standard of professional training of our farmers (especially that of part-time farmers and those who take to farming in mid-career), and for changes in the agricultural structure in general. In order to ensure that potential farmowners can plan their careers with confidence and harbour justified expectations we need a flexible training system which takes into account the insecurities and discontinuities of the individual professional career. The author proposes an integrated overall concept based on programmes of further training, intensive courses in main subjects and the institutionalisation of dual training in a farming trade and one outside farming.