One of my favourite visits was to Smedley cadet station. This farm was donated to the crown to train young people to farm. It only takes 11 students each year, and they are there for 2 years, so 22 years in total. I wish we had a place like this in the UK – I would have loved to go there to study!

It is hard work though, so don’t be too easily fooled. It is difficult to get a place to start with, approximately 100 applicants for 11 spaces each year. Once you are there, along with learning the academic side of running a business and keeping updated with farm technology, you also learn the practical side of running a farm.

The students (all boys) each train a dog, and break in a horse, they are also give a second dog. There are no quad bikes at Smedley all stock work is done with the horses and dogs the boys train themselves. This is a nice job on a nice day! While we were there we didn’t see the students as they were busy out fencing. They do have pick up trucks to carry things around the 5000 ha farm, however, when it come to fencing all holes were dug by hand, and posts knocked in by sledge hammer – they even made some of their own fence posts. Safe to say you leave Smedley farm fit!

We have a connection with Smedley as each year one student is awarded a scholarship to travel to the UK and learn more about the supply chain of their lamb. Each year they visit us in Wales for up to a week, they visit farms, factories, research centres and if time allows, the Royal Welsh Show. This years scholar has already been selected so I look forward to meeting him in the summer.

What a fantastic opportunity for these young men, I wish them all well in the future. The good news we heard as we left was that Smedley was purchasing some extra land so there is a possibility they may be able to take and extra student or two in the future.