The UK dairy sector risks being held back unless workforce skills and training can keep up with rapid advances in technology, a new report has warned.

The assessment found that dairy businesses are increasingly adopting data-driven systems, automation, sensors and other digital technologies, but that workforce capability isn’t developing at the same rate.

Produced by the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) as part of the Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC)-led Digital Dairy Chain programme, the report: Digitalising Dairy: A Future Skills Needs Assessment for Productivity and Sustainability, highlights a growing need for practical, technical and data skills across farms and the wider dairy supply chain.

The report says dairy remains one of the UK’s most strategically important food production sectors, supporting food security, rural economies, exports and wider agri-food resilience. However, it also warns that future success depends on whether the workforce has the skills needed to use innovation effectively.

Lynne Somerville, Skills Development Manager at UWS, one of the report’s authors said: “Dairy is changing very quickly. Across the sector, businesses are already using more data, digital systems, automation and sustainability tools, but workforce development hasn’t kept pace with that change.

 

This report isn’t saying that technology is the only answer, but the future of dairy does depend on people having the skills and the confidence to use innovation effectively. We need clearer pathways into dairy careers, more practical digital and technical training and stronger links between employers, schools, colleges, universities and policymakers.

 

“Modern dairy careers increasingly combine animal care with food production and engineering, data and sustainability with business skills. That’s a powerful story, but we need to make it more visible to young people and to those who might never have considered dairy as a career.”

As dairy becomes more digital and data-driven, the report says the sector needs people who can combine traditional farming knowledge with technical, analytical and sustainability skills. It cites research showing that 84% of dairy farmers trying to recruit received very few or no suitably qualified applicants.

The report calls for clearer career pathways and practical training with stronger work experience routes, better rural connectivity and wider access for young people, women, career changers and ex-service personnel.

Dairy remains one of the UK’s most strategically important food production sectors, with the industry producing more than 14 billion litres of milk annually and with a wholesale value of approximately £5.7 billion and around 70,000 jobs across the wider supply chain.

Robert Craig, Chair of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers, dairy farmer and member of the Digital Dairy Chain Talent Forum Board, said technological change was creating significant opportunities for dairy businesses, but investment had to be matched by the skills to use it effectively.

 

Dairy is evolving very quickly; we’re using everything from robotics and automated systems to genomics and huge amounts of data. That kind of work requires a much broader range of skills than it did in the past. We still need traditional farming and animal husbandry knowledge, but increasingly we need people who can understand technology, interpret data and use it to make better decisions.

 

“You can see a real difference between businesses that invest in technology and those that understand how to get the best from it. Farms can invest tens of thousands of pounds in new systems, but without the right skills they may never realise the benefits. “Where businesses do understand the technology and the data it produces, the improvements in efficiency, productivity and profitability can be dramatic.

“As an industry, we also need to be much more open about the opportunities dairy can offer. We have traditionally relied heavily on people coming into farming through their families, but there’s a huge range of careers across farming and the wider dairy industry. We need to open the doors, bring people in and give them clear routes to develop the skills they need.”

The report highlights work experience and clearer routes from education into employment as important ways of tackling skills shortages and raising awareness of careers in dairy.

Through Think Dairy Careers, 16 dairy farms across South Lanarkshire have worked with schools and young people to provide experience of modern dairy farming.

Fiona Trainer, a First Milk dairy farmer and key stakeholder in Think Dairy Careers, helped develop the initiative, drawing on her previous career in teaching and experience of developing alternative pathways for young people.

Fiona said: “There’s demand on both sides. Dairy businesses need people with a growing range of skills, while there are young people looking for practical, outdoor and technical careers who simply aren’t aware of the opportunities available to them in agriculture. We need to do a better job of connecting the two.

“Farming is an incredibly diverse profession. Young people coming onto a farm can see everything from animal health and sustainability to engineering, sensors and data analysis. Work experience gives them a glimpse of that and there’s likely to be something within it that grabs them, whatever their background.

“What’s been really positive through Think Dairy Careers is seeing a change among employers too. Farms involved are now employing apprentices or pre-apprentices and talking to other farmers about it. There’s greater awareness of how to bring young people into the industry and give them skills and qualifications they can build a career on.

“Dairy should be an aspirational career with clear routes into it and opportunities to progress, just as you see in sectors like oil and gas. It’s an international industry with opportunities around the world and we should be presenting it that way.”

The report recommends a UK-wide approach to dairy skills, including clearer qualifications and career routes, practical digital training, stronger work experience, wider entry routes and better workforce planning.

The report was produced as part of the £21 million Digital Dairy Chain, a five-year UK Research and Innovation Strength in Places-funded programme led by SRUC to support innovation, productivity and growth across the dairy sector in Cumbria and South and West Scotland. 

UWS leads the programme’s Workforce for the Future initiative – helping the dairy sector and its supply chain respond to the workforce and skills implications of digital transformation.

Pauline Murray, Digital Dairy Chain Programme Director, said: “Our ambition for Digital Dairy Chain is that we build the reputation of the dairy industry for future talent and showcase a broad range of careers.

 

Through our work with STEM engagement and career promotion we have reached almost 50,000 young people. This Future Skills Needs Assessment sets out the challenges that the industry faces and we appeal to our partners to consider how they can support this work moving forward and ensure a resilient industry needed for food security in our country.

 

The report relates to SDG 4: Quality Education, SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, and SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.