"Always dream big to achieve, strive to be the best you can be."
Edward Hilton- Self Employed Farm Worker
We're always keen to stay in touch with our former students and follow their careers. We spoke to Ed in 2019 about his experience at Hadlow College whilst completing his Extended Diploma.
We caught up with him recently and now he's very busy working on a mixed farm…
“Since leaving college I have taken on a job on a mixed farm consisting of both arable and livestock farming, with an intensive calf rearing system, producing top quality calves for the beef trade. My main roles consist of operating machinery for the arable side of the farm, as well as the mucking out and cleaning of all cattle sheds on a regular 6 week basis. As I’ve got into the job, I have been given responsibilities and had to use lots of skills I learnt at college to help me with this.
Going forward there are lots of plans for the farm to develop and progress and hopefully I can continue my employment on with the farm and use my knowledge to help the farm improve and become better than it already is. This job has landed me in a place where I can use everything I already know across the arable and beef sectors, as well as utilising my existing skills I am developing new skills every day”
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I chose to attend Hadlow College because it offered the exact course that would help me towards my goal of being a Self-employed Farm Worker.
I enjoyed the course and working together with the other students as a team. The course is a mix of classroom based learning and practical lessons. One memorable day was spent on a working farm, helping with disbudding. It was great to be able to use the skills we had learnt in College, at the same time as getting some first-hand experience. At the end of the day, we went home knowing that we had helped the farmer get a really important job done.
After the course I got a summer harvest job on a 7000 acre farm, carrying out all forms of tractor operated jobs, as well as assisting with the sheep and cattle. I spent the Autumn, working on a self-employed basis on several different farms gaining further experience within different parts of the sector. I used my skills and tested my initiative working alone, completing tasks for people when required.
Without doing the Extended Diploma in Agriculture, I wouldn’t have the knowledge and understanding to be able to carry out the tasks required as a Self-employed farm worker, efficiently and to the correct standard. I have been able to set up my own business as well as invest in my own flock of sheep.
My advice to anyone wanting to take the same career path as me is to always dream big to achieve, strive to be the best you can be, as there is so much out there you can do and you never know where it will lead you.