Hello, my name is Alan Lockhart, I am 30 years old, married to Frances and we have two children, Erin three, and Will one. I farm 27 hectares in Newry, Co. Down. The main enterprise is winter cereal production with the remaining area devoted to permanent grassland.

After working within the agricultural industry for almost 10 years as a Technical Sales representative/Agronomist and providing agricultural contracting services I decided to further increase my academic knowledge by completing a third level course in Agriculture. My hope is to increase my employment opportunities at a higher management level within the arable sector.

Year one of the Degree course certainly was demanding and a huge culture shock due to the transition from an on-farm working environment back to studying. My classmates having all recently completed their A levels had me at a disadvantage when it came to answering questions during lectures and completing assignments. I really viewed this as a challenge and got stuck in which has enabled me to progress this far.

I am currently studying on the three year programme, this is my second year and I hope to take up my 16 week work placement on a 600 ha progressive arable farm in Cambridge, England. This will generate some useful cash as being a mature student and a Dad requires deep pockets. It will also provide me with valuable practical skills and knowledge of the management required to successfully farm a large scale arable area. I will also use my time in England to assess job opportunities there.

I selected crop production as my management option within the degree programme as arable farming has always held a special place within my family. Jim Lockhart my Grandfathers brother lectured at the Royal College of Agriculture in Cirencester and later with the assistance of his colleague Tony Wiseman published  the well known textbook “Lockhart & Wiseman’s Crop Husbandry and Grassland”.

I hope to pursue a career in the agronomy of agricultural crops upon graduation and feel that their will be a great requirement for such skills in the future as food production for a growing population becomes increasingly important.

Alan Lockhart with daughter Erin enjoying a harvest day on Nick Baird’s Farm, Chichester, England who was runner up in the Farmers Weekly young farmer of the year competition 2008