Farm manager

You would run a farm as a business, so you’d plan which crops or livestock would be the most profitable. You’d manage the farm workers, control the budget, and buy and sell the farm produce.

You could work on one of three main types of farm:

• Livestock, dealing with animals

• Arable, growing crops

• Mixed, producing both animals and crops

You could manage your own farm or be employed by owners or tenants of a farm to run it efficiently and profitably. You might run a whole farm or just part of it, such as a dairy unit.

You would need excellent business skills, a good head for figures and the ability to get the most out of your team.

Depending on the type of farm you worked on you would:

• Plan how the farm will run over the coming year

• Set budget and production targets

• Buy and sell animals or produce

• Keep financial records and records of livestock and/or crops

• Recruit, train and supervise staff

• Work with vets to monitor animals for infection and disease

• Work with officials on areas like habitat conservation

On smaller farms, you may do practical farm work, such as looking after livestock, driving tractors and other machinery, and harvesting crops.

You’d also be expected to find and develop new activities to keep the farm profitable. So you could also have responsibility for other activities where the business has diversified. For example there may be a farm shop, horse riding facilities or accommodation for tourists. You may also be responsible for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from farming processes, as well as helping the farm adapt to potential effects from climate change.

• Lantra Scotland - Training and skills for the land-based, aquaculture and environmental sector