Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust annual conference comes to Belfast in 2024

The conference was launched at the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) Hillsborough in Co Down earlier this week.

It is envisaged that around 30 Nuffield Farming scholars will present their findings at the conference with over 400 delegates in attendance. All regions of the UK and Ireland will be represented at the 2024 event.

The conference will be held at several well-known locations throughout the city, including the Belfast Assembly Rooms, Europa Hotel, and Titanic Belfast.

Next year’s conference will have a three-day agenda featuring a welcome buffet, a formal annual dinner, and two days of Scholar presentations, including presentations from the first Nuffield Farming Next-Gen scholars.

“Belfast 2024 is already set to be an exciting conference with a packed agenda, reflecting the importance of Northern Ireland in UK agriculture and beyond,” confirmed Rupert Alers-Hankey, Director Designate of the Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust.

“Delegates will hear from several year groups of scholars, with study titles that reflect the length and breadth of the UK food, farming, rural and land-based industries.”

He added: “We are also looking forward to hearing from our first Nuffield Farming Next-Gen scholars who will share their experiences from their 30-day study tour of the UK dairy industry.”

The Belfast 2024 Nuffield Farming Conference is open to anyone with an interest in attending.

The Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust is a registered charity that provides funding to passionate people with the potential to make positive change in food, farming, horticulture and rural industries.

Nuffield Farming scholarships are open to applicants between the ages of 22 and 45, with the aim of unlocking an individual’s potential and broadening horizons through study and travel overseas.

The Nuffield experience

Scholars are selected with a view to developing tomorrow’s leaders within their individual business and the industry as a whole.

Scholars are able to travel anywhere in the world for a period of no less than eight weeks to further their knowledge and understanding of their chosen study topic.

On return from their travels, they present their findings, the conclusions they have reached and the recommendations to the industry in a variety of formats, including a written report and a presentation at the Annual Nuffield Farming Conference.

The scholars are also expected to use all other means at their disposal to spread the knowledge they have gained within their industry and beyond.

Each year Nuffield Farming Scholarships are awarded to approximately 20 deserving individuals working in farming, horticulture, forestry or any other countryside and ancillary industry - or are in a position to influence those who do.

As a registered charity, the Nuffield Trust is governed by a board of trustees. They are responsible for overseeing its activities on behalf of the members.

The Trustee Board is formed by 6 – 13 elected individuals of whom at least 75% must be Nuffield scholars.

All activities of the Trust must be towards promotion of its objectives which are:

“…to promote agricultural, horticultural, forestry and countryside management education in the United Kingdom and abroad and to advance the standard of farming (including the food supply chain, horticulture, forestry and countryside management and associated topics) in the United Kingdom by the provision of scholarships to [eligible] persons to enable them to study the practices and techniques employed anywhere in the world.”

How it all started

The Nuffield name and emblem, a bull riding a bicycle, both derive from the late Lord Nuffield. Born in 1877, near Worcester, William Richard Morris was a grandson of a farmer.

His journey began when he lived and worked in Oxford. He started by repairing Oxford graduates’ bicycles, then he progressed to making his own newer models. Inspired by the success of this business and embracing the developments being made in motoring technology, he then set up a motor car business.

Morris realised at an early stage in his business development that he should seek best practice in this new industry. He travelled to the emerging motor capital of Detroit to understand how the Americans were able to produce reliable cars that could undercut the price of those produced in Britain.

He successfully took on Henry Ford with a new car, the Morris Cowley, mass produced on American principles. Morris continued to travel, seeking new ideas and markets. Recognising the value of travel and study, he also sent his key employees out into the world to develop themselves and introduce new concepts to his business.

Financial success brought William Morris social recognition; he was a chronic hypochondriac and conscious of his lack of education, eager to support the research of eminent physicians and gave generously to Oxford University, whose graduates had first brought him cycles and cars to mend.

As a leading industrialist and philanthropist, he was ennobled as Lord Nuffield. It is estimated that during his lifetime he was able to give away more than £30,000,000.

In 1943 Lord Nuffield established the Nuffield Foundation for “the advancement of health and social well-being and the care and comfort of the aged poor”. It was directed solely towards health issues of the UK population in general and did not extend to agriculture at this stage.

Encouraged by Jack Maclean, Vice President of the NFU until 1960, these objectives were widened to include agricultural advancement. Jack McClean suggested that perhaps the Nuffield Foundation might sponsor travelling scholarships for established farmers and growers, who had made such a significant contribution to the expansion of food production during the war. Lord Nuffield agreed, although what motivated him was that a good and plentiful food supply was a necessary prerequisite to promote the nation’s health.

In 1947 the Trustees chose their first Nuffield Farming Scholars, restricted to candidates from England and Wales, Jane Kenyon, John Rowsell and Edward Stokes and briefed them to search out and bring back to farmers in the UK details of good and innovative agricultural husbandry, from different parts of the globe.

The scheme was known as “Nuffield Travelling Scholarships for Farmers of the UK” Its scope was widened to include Northern Ireland in 1949.

The Nuffield opportunity

Nuffield Farming Scholarships are an amazing opportunity that can benefit careers, industry and business, as well as advancing personal development.

A bursary of approximately £7,500 will be given towards the Scholars travel and subsistence expenses.

In addition, the Trust and individual award sponsors will meet their travel and expenses in relation to the Pre-Study Briefing and Contemporary Scholars Conference (CSC).

The total value of an award is in excess of £13,000.

The scholarship application process

Individuals can start their application for a Nuffield Farming Scholarship early in January each year.

Support and advice with the application process is readily available though all stages of the application process from both, the Nuffield Farming Office and regional representative

The deadline for applications each year is the 31st July.

All applications and references will be reviewed by the Selection Committee by early September to short list for interview. All applicants will be notified of the outcome in writing.

Interviews are held over three days in early October: they usually take place in London. Applicants will receive an email notifying them of the date and time of their interview.

The international dimension

Nuffield International is a non-profit organisation with a global footprint that encompasses the member countries of Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and Zimbabwe.

Specifically, it leads efforts to support the engagement of the Nuffield programme into new countries. Currently, Nuffield International is administering the development of the scholarship program in Chile, Germany, Japan, South Africa and the United States of America - with a view to continually expand this unique opportunity to other agriculturists from all over the world.

Next-Gen launch in Northern Ireland

Two young people from Northern Ireland, aged between 18 and 24, will have a unique opportunity to speak at the 2024 Nuffield Farming Scholarship Conference.

Making all of this happen for the selected duo will be the new Nuffield Farming ‘Next-Gen’ Scholarship.

A pilot scheme for the programme will run in 2024. It will be open exclusively to young people in Northern Ireland with a demonstrable interest in the dairy industry.

Tom Rawson, Vice Chair of Nuffield Farming Scholarships, attended the recent launch of the ‘Next-Gen’ programme, held at AFBI Hillsborough.

He confirmed the significance of the new scholarship and its specific relevance to Northern Ireland’s dairy sector.

He said:

“Next-Gen will provide young people, aged between 18 and 24 with an opportunity to secure an in-depth knowledge of the UK’s dairy farming sector in 2024.

“It will also allow the scholarship recipients, and all the initial applicants, to find out more about Nuffield Farming Scholarships and the key role played by the Nuffield organisation at the very heart of the farming and food industries.”

The two successful applicants will be selected by the Northern Ireland Nuffield Farming Association to take part in a fully funded, 30-day dairy sector study programme in the UK during the early summer of 2024.

The programme aims to give young people the opportunity to develop their understanding of the industry while also building networks and future opportunities.

The application period for the ‘Next-Gen’ scholarship is already open. It will close on 31 January 2024.

Interviews for shortlisted applicants will take place in early February 2024 and scholarship recipients will be announced by the end of that month.

The study tour is supported by the Nuffield Farming Dairy Group and will provide an overview of the UK dairy industry and Nuffield Farming. Next-Gen scholars will stay on dairy farms with Nuffield Scholars.

They will participate in a dairy tour in North Wales, and visit more than ten other dairy businesses.

In addition, the scholars will be assigned a mentor and give a presentation about their experiences at the 2024 Nuffield Farming Conference, which will be held in Belfast.

Following a successful pilot programme, the Next-Gen Scholarship will be made available to young people across the UK in a variety of sectors, with up to six Scholarships awarded each year.

“Our new Next-Gen scholarships aim to develop young talent within the industry,” explained Rupert Alers-Hankey.

“It is an exciting initiative for Nuffield Farming and forms an important part of our commitment to leading positive change in agriculture.”

He added: “We hope that taking part in the programme will enable young people to establish themselves in the industry, while also getting a flavour of all that Nuffield Farming has to offer.

“Launching our pilot programme in Northern Ireland is particularly special as the Nuffield Farming Conference returns to Belfast in 2024.”

Prospective applicants for the Nuffield Farming Next-Gen Scholarship can find out more about on the Nuffield Farming website.