The James Hutton Institute is set to lead a new €6 million (£5.1 million) project which aims to bring more young people into careers in farming – working with AI, videogames and young farmer ambassadors.
Financed by Horizon Europe, an EU funding program for research and innovation, the project will bring together fifteen different partner organisations from across the Europe.
Titled Farm Heroes, the project will use several innovative methods to encourage Europe’s young people into a farming career.
To begin with, researchers will work with groups of young people to better understand how they would like to see farming evolve in future.
They will then train a large language model (LLM) AI to conduct a higher education curriculum review of agricultural training, providing an oversight of how well curricula support this future vision of farming.
As well as trying to encourage more young people into farming, the project will aim to address a lack of women entering the industry.
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The Hutton is set to receive €1 million (£853,000) in funding for the project, with the remaining funds being shared amongst the other partners.
The project is due to begin in October and will run for four years.
Professor Lee-Ann Sutherland, who will lead the Hutton’s contribution, said: “We are delighted that our proposal has been funded. Enabling a diverse group of young people to enter the sector – and supporting current successors to thrive – is crucial to enabling innovation and resilience in the agricultural sector.”
