One farmer that has benefited from the support of the Get Mentoring in Farming scheme is Mark Lee, whose journey to the industry initially saw him travel the world as an international sportsman and soldier.
As captain of the Scotland Sevens team, the British Army and the Combined Services, Mark Lee played rugby all over the world. He captained Scotland Sevens at two Commonwealth Games and, in the World Series, led the British Army to victory in the Defence World Cup in 2011 in New Zealand. He also played professional rugby with Edinburgh and the Borders.
Now, the former army captain, who also qualified as a lawyer in the armed services, is running a 350-acre dairy farm in Torpenhow near Wigton in Cumbria, where he lives with wife Jenny and their two children.
Mark, now aged 36, who was both a scrum half and a forward, said:
“I played rugby all over the world at a high level and I was also in the Army for a number of years, all of which has made me pretty adaptable. In the Army, you move every couple of years so I had the mindset that could help me adapt to the change to farming. I had always thought that rugby or the law would be my route in life but Jenny is from a farming family and her father wanted to take a step back. I did not know anything about farming but my experience with the Army meant that I had no fear about taking on new challenge. I had immense experience around me, my father-in-law has been in farming for more than forty years and my herdsman has more than thirty years’ experience.”
Mark also benefited from the Get Mentoring scheme, having had a long session with fellow Cumbrian farmer Robert Craig. Mark said;
“It was really useful. Robert is probably not someone I would ordinarily feel that I could approach and say ‘tell me about your business, please’ but this gave me a way of talking to him. It really changed my perspective. Robert is a successful farmer and I learned a lot from how he runs his business. It was also reassuring because in professional sport and in the Army, you do a lot of planning and I could see similarities between that experience and the way Robert goes about running his business. Although I am not coming into the industry at eighteen or nineteen, I only came into farming in 2012 so I still count as a new entrant. Even though I am surrounded by a lot of experience on the farm, it can be useful to get the views of someone from outside as well.”
For Robert, who farms between Carlisle and Penrith, mentoring has provided a valuable insight into his own farming as well as providing the opportunity to share his experience. Robert, who runs JRC Craig & Son, said:
“Mentoring offers the opportunity to guide and help someone through the process of building a business and fulfilling life. I had not acted as a mentor before. I have spent a lot of time with groups but not individuals. To further my mentoring, I completed the online training and found the learning resources available from SFEDI and Get Mentoring in Farming easy to follow and a good comprehensive guide with good examples. I spent several hours with Mark, whom I met at the final introduction meeting at Newtonrigg. I’ve received some encouraging feedback from our initial meeting.
I think mentoring is a good idea. Take a look at any successful business or individual, they will all have one thing in common….they will all have at least one mentor who has helped them sharpen their focus and prioritise their actions. It’s got to be worth a try, there’s nothing to lose.
I’ve taken advice from a number of people myself for the past 30 years. While not having or relying on one person, rather I’ve built a group of like-minded people who know and understand my direction. I would like to dedicate a guaranteed amount of time to mentoring and build more contacts. In addition to helping someone else, it’s an opportunity to examine and redefine my own goals and ambition and revisit the strategic procedure.”