A packed audience of 260 students attended a Pig Industry Scholarship presentation at Harper Adams University this week, indicating strong “next generation” interest in the sector.
The presentation, given by ForFarmers’ corporate affairs director, Nick Major, highlighted the growing business connection between pig sector companies and the scholarships scheme, which is organised by BPEX and supported by the National Pig Association.Â
“Food and agriculture is a fantastic sector to be in,” he said. “You should be extremely optimistic after choosing a career in our industry.”
Mr Major also told the students that they’d made a “great decision” in coming to Harper Adams as the graduates coming through the university were “exactly the sort of people” wanted by pig businesses”
Sharing the platform with British Poultry Council Chief Executive, Andrew Large, he said that the number of companies now involved in the pig industry scholarships has risen to 10 this year, covering everything from genetics to feed to pig housing, in addition to production and processing. That meant the opportunities within the sector were “many and varied”.Â
The Pig Industry Scholarships at Harper Adams include contributions towards fees of £3,500, plus salaried placement years with partner companies.  Both the pig and poultry scholarships are open to applications from students currently in the second year of BSc programmes or first year of FdSc programmes at the university.Â