As a Scottish landowner now, I need to think about how my ‘estate’ should be managed *

Which is useful that I found myself at the annual conference of the Institute of Agricultural Management on Wednesday held in the splendid surroundings of the Royal Society in London.

A tremendous turnout of farming folk and agricultural academics, there to debate the weighty matters raised by the publication of the Foresight Report, published last January which focussed on the challenges of producing enough food to feed the world over the next 40 years.

As with such weighty and learned tomes, they are produced by people of immense wisdom and experience (another way of saying those of more senior years). But their recommendations and implementation will have to be carried out by those coming into the industry now.

But here’s where two worlds collide. I had quite a struggle getting across London to the conference because the roads around Parliament Square were blocked off because of a march by students (obviously on a ‘working’ day when they lose only learning time not pay - and anyway who would get up early to travel to London after a ‘studenty’ Friday night?)

So these are the young people in whom we are to put our trust to sort out the management of the world for the next 40 or 50 years?  I know, generalisation is a dangerous and unfair trick - so it is unlikely that those with ambition and a real bent for learning will have been anywhere near Parliament Square on Wednesday.

Paying for further education is always going to be a balancing act for Governments - and there has been a significant re-balancing in recent years. But headlines about £9000 fees and student debt ignore the realities that no money is paid back until the student starts earning.

Two interesting news reports during October hinted at the impact of recent changes.

First, that overall university admissions are more than 50,000 down this year, but then a report from UCAS that applications for popular courses in medicine, dentistry and vetinerary showed a rise this year.

Perhaps this signifies an increasing lack of appetite for the type of courses which are ‘nice to have’ and may or may not lead to a job -  rather than ‘must have’ qualifications in order to forge a solid career?

* Scottish landowner? I am currently enjoying an excellent bottle of Laphroaig (perhaps the Marmite of malt whiskeys) and was able to join the Friends of Laphroaig by entering a unique number accompanying the bottle.

Amongst the benefits is that I am now the proud leaseholder of a one square foot plot of prime land on Islay (along with 380,000 neighbours apparently!).  Indeed, my splendid certificate says that I can visit said plot at anytime but am advised to wear a thick overcoat and bring a ball of string ‘for securing trouser legs from inquisitive stoats'! 

Yield from my plot will be limited, but what a brilliant example of a customer loyalty scheme from a specialist supplier    
  
Chris