Getting Young People Interested In Agriculture

Breyton Milford, operations manager at Agri-Expo, was recently elected as a trustee of the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth. Jeandré van der Walt spoke to him about this achievement, and his involvement with young people in agriculture.

- Jeandre Van Der Walt

How did your career in agriculture begin?

From a young age, I knew I wanted to be involved in farming, and since primary school, I’ve kept livestock. I didn’t want to go to a ‘normal’ academic high school, so I attended the Augsburg Agricultural Gymnasium in Clanwilliam and studied at Grootfontein Agricultural College, graduating in 2007.

After college in 2008, I joined Agri-Expo as project coordinator, and have since been promoted to operations manager.

You are a board member of the Royal Agricultural Society of the Commonwealth (RASC). What does the RASC do?

It’s the voice of agriculture in the Commonwealth. It’s a confederation of more than 50 leading national and regional agricultural show societies, agricultural associations and research bodies working in 20 Commonwealth countries.

It encourages high standards in sustainable agriculture, forestry, and fishing, and aims to raise the standard of the rural economy based on increased production. Through its member societies, it creates awareness of agriculture and rural concerns.

The RASC holds a biennial Commonwealth Agriculture Conference to give members and other interested organizations the opportunity to network and explore their interests and mutual problems in agriculture. Together with this, it organizes a biennial Next Generation (NG) mission to a Commonwealth member state.

The RASC works closely with the Commonwealth Secretariat, setting the agenda for agriculture in the Commonwealth.

How does the RASC partner with South Africa to strengthen its agricultural industry?

The 30th Commonwealth Agriculture Conference will be hosted in Cape Town from 13 to 18 November 2022.