Educating Lincolnshire students on the importance of farming

The organisers have reached the end of this year’s scheme which ran from February 26 until March 8.

During this time they teamed up with farmers and young farmers connecting them with 25 local schools to talk about what they do and inspire the next generation.

They partnered with farmers including Phil Stothard and Jamie Butler from Dyson Farming of Nocton and Carrington, Andrew Ward from Roy Ward Farm Ltd of Leadenham and David Casswell from Pattingdon Farm in South Kyme, as well as young farmer groups including Wragby, Louth, Harmston and many more.

This year for Tractors into Schools, farmers have visited 25 schools and reached over 2,000 students.

The farmers are incredibly passionate about bringing learning on the importance of agriculture, outside the classroom to students.

Farmer Andrew Ward said “Lincolnshire is one of the biggest farming counties in the country. I think I saw that 27 per cent of the nation’s vegetables come from Lincolnshire which shows the huge importance this has and why it's so important that the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society are promoting farming and food and directing this at children. We are trying to reconnect, to bridge the gap of the disconnect between generations and get children interested in learning where their food comes from.

“I’ve been involved in this initiative for years and have been going back to Redwood Primary School in Waddington for the last four years. It’s great to build up a relationship with the teachers and staff.”

The LAS’s new president Ian Walters also visited Redwood Primary School to see the work the charity does.

He said: “It’s so important we connect with young people of the county to show them what goes on in the fields of Lincolnshire and to raise awareness of the charitable objectives of the Lincolnshire Agricultural Society.”

Another of the 25 schools visited, Ambergate School in Grantham sent a message saying: “All our pupils that attended from Early Years to Years 10-11 had an amazing time. I would also like to say how great David was, an absolute gem, related to all of our pupils, very patient and informative but on various levels to suit our student’s needs.”