Ag Tech Career Insight

IAgrE member Maisie Wildgoose is a management trainee with East Anglian John Deere dealer Ben Burgess. She recently spent some time with the Landwards editor discussing what led her down the road to agricultural engineering.

Where did it all start?

I come from a non-agricultural background; both of my parents are in the creative industry, and I didn’t know anyone from a farm when I was growing up. I went through school and A-Levels with no real direction and when it came to university choices, I just wasn’t sure. I got offered places at some fantastic universities but was never convinced that I wanted to commit to any of the courses.

I wanted a degree I knew I would both love and utilise in a relevant industry after university. I was desperate to leave home and as soon as I got my A-Level results I was off to America to stay with my family. After a few months in California, North Carolina, and Washington, I was ready for my next adventure. At the time I’d wanted to go to New Zealand for the favourable climate and low number of killer creatures. However, the visa prices determined that I was instead going to Australia. In Australia, I took a 17.5-hour journey from Brisbane to the Outback for my first job in a pub. It was here that I first discovered the world of agriculture. I would work in the pub from 8 am to 4 pm, then head out in the buggy to check stock, help with branding, load cattle or fix troughs. I loved it so much that I’d offer my free time to help on stations of friends, grandparents of friends, and even strangers! After this I was hooked, I worked in South Australia with beef and sheep; then did a cotton season with a contracting company all across New South Wales. I decided to try agriculture in the UK, starting with a dairy farm in North Devon in the cold, wet summer of 2018. While I loved being with the cows and calves, it was a totally different agriculture to what I was used to. Much more intensive, dairy involved a lot more slurry and a static caravan takes some getting used to. But the biggest difficulty I had was the lack of progression. I’d be up at night asking what am I doing, where do I go from here, and what are my options? Luckily, we had a family friend who encouraged me to consider an agriculture degree. We talked about my interests and he suggested Harper would be best. At Harper, I really enjoyed the first-year mechanisation module, and developed an interest in machinery and technology. In the second year, I chose to study non-chemical weed control with a focus on automated machinery. For my dissertation, I studied the adoption of precision agriculture technologies by vegetable producers. During the holidays I worked at a single-depot Deutz dealership in Essex, and then did my placement year at Langar with John Deere with the intention of expanding my agricultural dealership experience and knowledge from just parts. There, I worked with the marketing, dealer development, and finance departments.

What about your journey following qualification?

Following university, I wanted to go down the precision agriculture route, and got a job working at SOYL writing up variable rate fertiliser plans. However, I found that the work was removed from the technology side I was interested in. I was fortunate enough to be offered a management trainee role at Ben Burgess where I have been given the opportunity to move around various business departments further expanding my dealership knowledge. I am working in the service department as a Service Advisor, where I proactively organise jobs based on machine alerts triggered by telematics analysis.

What role does volunteering play in your life?

I volunteer when I can, most recently I spent four nights behind the bar while my Young Farmers group did their panto. One of the best things I have volunteered to do was supporting a 250-mile bike ride from Harper to Scotland to raise money for Edale mountain rescue, George Crawford Legacy Trust, and FCN in memory of friends we’d lost over the course of our degree. I was the ‘social media manager’ of the trip, and in total £10,000 was raised, five times more than the £2,000 goal. Having just moved to Norfolk for work and given that I haven’t been out of university for very long, I haven’t had much of a chance or the time to do much volunteering. Now I am settled with my living situation and job, I am looking forward to looking into more volunteering opportunities.

Where do you see your career going?

I want to get more involved in precision agriculture. I work closely with the Precision Ag manager for the East at Ben Burgess and have learnt so much from him. I have been working on projects with the Precision Ag team such as Tractor Optimisation Days where I have had the chance to learn more about John Deere technology and system integration. Hopefully, throughout my trainee scheme, I will continue to help the precision ag team where I can.

What are the key issues facing agricultural engineering?

Following my dissertation on the uptake of precision ag, I’d have to argue at least a little bit, that getting people to invest in new machinery is a large issue. We can produce all this cool technology, and bring all these new ideas but we have to know what people are looking for, and what people will invest in. These new products are expensive, and for a farmer to part with so much money on a product that looks likely to be outdated before it’s been paid off. There are key issues that I think help ag engineering too, while the lack of staff and environmental pressures from the public and government are big issues for farmers, this opens up opportunities for agricultural engineers, creating a demand for product with clear objectives.

What advice would you offer to anyone heading into the industry?

There are many opportunities, with a variety of companies selling the most incredible assortment of products. As an agricultural scientist, as opposed to an engineer, I always worried that I wouldn’t have the qualifications to work for the companies I want to, but it’s not the case. Just because I don’t fit the mould, doesn’t mean I can’t offer something else to the company. Don’t forget companies will train the right person. Don’t let a lack of qualifications or experience stop you, apply anyway.