Each year a student studying agriculture is given the opportunity to complete a 12 month work placement at Dyson Farming.

“Spending a year at Dyson Farming has opened my eyes to a number of different aspects of farming. Having come from a family run 300ha arable farm in Dorset, it has certainly been a different experience getting to know the Lincolnshire landscape and the local area. Being brought up on a farm, I already had experience of cultivations, harvest operations and general farm work but I took the opportunity to spend 9 months traveling around Australia and New Zealand where I was able to gain further experience of combining and drilling on farm in Western Australia.

After returning from abroad, I joined Harper Adams University to study Agriculture for which I was required to undertake a middle year placement. I chose to spend my placement year at Dyson Farming because of the diverse nature of the company which continues to expand year on year. With so many specific areas of expertise and a wide range of crops, the placement has enabled me to gain many new experiences. With a relaxed and hardworking atmosphere, I felt very welcome and I was able to develop a great working relationship with the department managers and their teams.

The program included two and a half months working on the anaerobic digester (AD); three weeks with the property team; two weeks working with livestock; two weeks shadowing the agronomist and the remainder of the time with the arable team. The most enjoyable and interesting aspect of the placement was spending time with the AD team as it was an aspect of the business that was completely new to me. I also enjoyed the responsibility that I was given on the farm: driving the Ropa Maus for the forage crop harvest; relief chaser bin driver; and drilling 930ha out of the 1400ha of oilseed rape. There was no part of my year at Dyson Farming that I did not enjoy.

During the year I was able to undertake a range of additional qualifications including B+E trailer test, loading shovel and UTV certificates. These will hopefully open up new opportunities and experiences for me and also help with my future career.

I would highly recommend the Dyson Farming placement to anyone wanting to gain experience of a large commercial farming company. As the business continues to grow and developing a wide range of farming enterprises with highly skilled and experienced staff, it is a brilliant place to work and learn.”

Robert Harris, 2016-17 placement student.