Backbone of Britain: 'Some of these kids are from the city and have never seen a cow before'

Survey

After a survey in 2017 revealed the true extent of British children’s lack of knowledge about agriculture and food production, it highlighted some devastating misunderstandings as almost a 29 per cent of five to seven-yearolds believed cheese came from a plant, not an animal, while one in four older primary school pupils (aged eight to 11) thought the same.

For Nancy, the day provides them with a chance to help rectify this but, it also gives children from diverse backgrounds their first encounter with livestock in an agricultural environment.

“To see the look on the children’s faces is priceless,” says Nancy, who grew up on a mixed hill farm in Scotland.

“Some schools that visit are from rural areas, but some are from the city and have never been up close to a tractor or seen a cow before.

“At this age, they are like little sponges taking everything in, and can’t believe all the things that we are telling them.

Astonished

“I really only get to see them when they have made their way around to my area but, they are always astonished at how big the tractor is – ‘wow’ is the usual comment. “Last year we had a Clydesdale horse with the tractor to compare ‘horse power’, and this was met with much delight as the horse was so big, yet so placid.”

After setting up Bryson Tractors, a New Holland dealership, 16 years ago, Nancy is keen to give something back to the rural community to which she’s always been a part of, especially when its in connection with the renowned Royal Highland Show.

“The Royal Highland is obviously massive in Scotland,” she says, recalling the trips she took in her own childhood.

“New Holland have a stand there, many of our customers show there and it’s just a huge part of the Scottish community and this provides us a chance to give back.

“The event is an opportunity to talk about our industry – most of my customers are farmers and if we’re all out there promoting farming, it helps to secure all our futures.”

RHET involves a whole host of people including butchers, milk processors and farmers from across all sectors laying the foundations for discussions about everything from cereals and vegetables to buying stock from an auction

Highlights

She says: “I know that one of the highlights of their day is when they get to jump in to the auction ring. They are shown how sheep are sold, and some get to be the auctioneer while the others can bid

“This usually causes a lively exchange.”

Nancy and her team provide a New Holland tractor for the day and explain the workings of a modern farming machine while diving in to the technology aspect of it too, realising the next generations hunger for all things digital. She also holds career days at the dealership, opening the business up to work experience pupils to showcase the variety of job prospects in the industry.

She says: “It gives those of a school age a look in to what we do, and also a look at the incredible technology on offer.”