Henning Jensen is from Husum in northern Germany and is qualified as a farm administration manager. Essentially, this means he has completed six years of practical and theory training to be qualified to run his own farm or a farm belonging to another German farmer.

This week, Henning was just finishing up work on the dairy farm of Kevin and Margaret Twomey, Fermoy Co Cork, so I had a chat with him about his training period and what he wants to do next.

Henning explained: “In Germany, secondary school finishes when most are 16 or 17 years of age and if you want to go to university, you must spend a further two years in school in advance of going.

“Training to be a German farmer is no different and starts just after secondary school at the age of 16 or 17. Those interested in becoming a farmer must then start a three-year farm apprenticeship period as a volunteer on a farm.”

In the first year, as well as practical experience of the physical work on a commercial farm, students must complete courses in school twice a week on the basics of agriculture.

In year two of training, you must spend one day a week in school and at the end of the year there is a written exam.

Henning explained: “There is also a practical exam at the end of year two where you are tested on a variety of farm tasks, including issues such as identifying weeds or showing how you spread slurry. Often you are asked to discuss the nutrient value of slurry, etc.”

In year three of the apprenticeship, as well as continuing to work on a farm, there is a final written exam on a wider ranging set of questions on many of the different enterprises (crops, dairy/cattle etc). There is also a final on-farm practical exam during this year.

“The practical exam involves you demonstrating various tasks and skills. For example, I was tested on my machine driving skills – spreading fertiliser, spraying, adjusting a sprayer, hitching on and off implements, etc,” said Henning.

“Another livestock example is showing your examiner how to dehorn a calf. Three persons will then rate how good you are – the farm owner, another employee and the teacher from the school.”

You can change farm from year to year, so in effect, when the three years have finished, most students will have worked on three farms as a volunteer.

During this apprenticeship period, before you have reached 20 years of age you are more or less treated as a normal employee on the farm. Payment is a nominal €400 per month in the first year, rising to €500 per month for years two and three. At each farm where you are working, you are also entitled to accommodation and food.

During the apprenticeship training, you get to spend time at various research centres in the sector you want to specialise in. At the research centres, you must spend a week completing practical work in the morning and then theory in the afternoon, after which you must complete a small exam.

Henning explained one very important task that you must do every week when on apprenticeship is to keep a record of work completed. One aspect of that is to keep a track of time (for example, how long it took to spray 6ha of corn).

“We also have to do special reports on best practice – for example, how to make good silage – and for completing this report, we get a score from our apprenticeship contact,” he said.

Real work experience

After the compulsory apprenticeship training has been completed, you get a certificate to show you have completed three years of practical and theory training on three commercial farms. You are then entitled to complete one year as a normal employee on a farm anywhere in Germany or Europe.

After that, you must apply in writing to join a state-funded technical college.

These technical colleges are specifically geared for teaching agriculture and are scattered all over Germany.

Henning said: “If you want to be a farmer in Germany or one day hope to take over your parents’ farm, then you must go at this stage and complete at least one year of the technical college.

“If you leave technical college after one year, you are classified as a farm manager. When you stay for the second year, you are classed as a farm administration manager, because in the second year you learn the skills about business management, such as cashflow budgets, developing rations for cows, understanding breeding records, etc.”

German counties have anywhere from three to six technical schools (it varies between districts) and you choose which school to attend.

Henning said at the moment they are becoming more centralised because students can travel further to the technical school.

Most students live at home during their time at the school and drive in and out to school in between working at home.

Henning attended a technical school that was 700km from his home because he wanted to specialise in organic agriculture – there are only three schools that specialise in organic training.

Summary

“The practical farmer training is quite long and intensive, but is very good,” said Henning. “In Germany, if you want to be an electrician or a plumber, then you must complete that three-year apprenticeship period of training – farming is no different. In Germany, we refer to this period of training as Ausbildung.”

The system is not perfect and Henning was quick to point out the problem areas.

“I feel there needs to be tighter criteria around the farms where you complete your apprenticeship. Some farmers abuse students and just use them as cheap workers, but other farmers are very good and treat them like good employees and pay for extra hours worked, etc.”

Henning also pointed out that for the apprenticeship period you are allowed to spend one of the three years on your home farm and he said that all students should be required to work away from the home farm for a period of time to see how other top operators work.

At this young age during the apprenticeship training period, you are working long hours in unfamiliar territory, so you are forced to grow up and take responsibility very fast.

Henning said: “On one of the first farms where I did experience, there was one other employee and my boss working on the farm. There were 200 cows in a Canadian indoor-type system, so it was go all the time, all year round.

“Not long after arriving, I was put on a high-powered tractor with a 6m mower and expected to operate just like the other farm employee.”

In the technical schools, Henning also said some teachers are very old for teaching new practices and too far removed from the practical work on the farm.

Next steps

Henning has just finished work placement on the farm of Kevin and Margaret Twomey, dairy farmers near Fermoy, Co Cork.

He is about to take up a position farm managing a research trial at the University Kiel in Schleswig Holstein. The trial will have 80 purebred Jersey heifers compact-calving in spring and operating a rotational grazing system.

This trial is very different than the German norm, which is year-round calving, with most of the forage and concentrate fed indoors.

Henning (25) grew up on an organic dairy farm near Husum in the northern Schleswig Holstein region of Germany. He has a younger brother (20) who farms with his parents and they milk 140 cows on an island.

He explained the milk from the organic herd is worth 45c/litre, while conventional milk is worth 28c/litre at the moment.

Henning is married to Valentina Busetti Diaz, who is originally from Argentina.