Learning and experiencing how mixed farming works together is one of the highlights of a modern apprenticeship, according to Alicja Blaszczyk.

Coming from an academic background, Ms Blaszczyk finished her Masters in Public Policy before starting a modern apprenticeship on a mixed farm in the Scottish Borders.

“I had done a lot of research and academic study but I wanted to see how it worked in practice,” explained Ms Blaszczyk.

She completed her Master’s at Stirling University before wanting to do something more applied and practical. So, 12 months ago she started an apprenticeship at George Brown and Son’s Stoneypath Farm, which runs cattle, sheep, poultry and crops.

“I was worried that an apprenticeship could be a step backwards or difficult to get into after uni. But LANTRA were really helpful and helped me to get it all sorted," she told us.

"The course takes around a year and a half to complete but depends how quickly you get through the modules. I only have two left to go which will have me finishing within 18 months of starting,” explained Ms Blaszczyk.

She was brought up in Edinburgh and didn’t have a lot of experience in farming before university. Her first experience was when she approached the dairy farmer at Dryfesdale Gate, in Lockerbie. There, manager David Taylor hired her to help out in the dairy.

“I learnt how to milk cows and different calving systems. I was very lucky the farm manager at Lockerbie took time to teach me. I had zero experience at the start,” she admitted.

This gave her a first taste of practical farming and kindled her passion for working with cattle. What she enjoys best about the modern apprenticeship is learning how the farming systems in the Scottish borders all fit together.

She said: “There are little things which catch you out, like knowing how important fertiliser is to being able to grow enough grass to feed the animals or make enough silage for winter. These are things people take for granted.”

During her studies, she read up on policy papers with a focus on the environment and farming. “My experience on farm has helped me to better understand the impact of the policies affecting the sector” she explained.

“I found some of the policies don't work as well in practice as they appear on paper. They have good intentions, especially for wildlife and bird seed mixes, but ploughing each year destroys the environment just to reseed it again.”

The best day on the farm so far has been catching the tups after being with the ewes for breeding. “The most fun we had was catching the tups,” she said.

“We had about eight fields to do to with two tups in each one. We ran all day and I was knackered, I never thought I would be trying to catch a big tup.”

This week Ms Blaszczyk is getting the cattle out to the fields and finishing the tagging of the calves. “We use an electronic tag so you can scan the calf and get all the information,” explained Ms Blaszczyk.

“Each time we scan the calf and get all the information. It makes it easier to make decisions with heifers having all the information on the tag.”

But it is not just the cattle which she has been involved in. She spent time this spring lambing, calving and has been rolling and power harrowing the fields. Arriving at the farm at 8am, she stays until 5pm, or later, depending on the time of year and the tasks at hand.

Looking towards the future, she said she was keen to work on fertility and sustainability of cattle. She has already completed a course in AI and done a herdsman foot trimming course. Later this month, she will head to Wales for a course on pregnancy scanning cows.

Anyone thinking of doing a modern apprenticeship in agriculture should speak to farmers first, advised Ms Blaszczyk. “I travelled to different farms who showed me around and I learned about the industry before undertaking the apprenticeship.

"There are huge opportunities in farming with a shortage of people working on farms. If you are not trying you will not find opportunity, so keep trying.

"Taking up a modern apprenticeship on a mixed farm gives good experience across agriculture. After this you can specialise in what you prefer to do,” she said.