Blog: My Placement Year at ForFarmers

A bit about me

Hi I’m Philippa Bennett, a 20 year old student from Harper Adams University studying a BSc in Agriculture.

Originally from Atherstone, Warwickshire where I live on a 145 dairy herd family farm, I have always had instilled passion for the ruminant sector of agriculture, so being able to work under Ruminant Communications with ForFarmers is an overwhelming opportunity I am excited to share!

I have a strong passion for rugby after playing for the Harper Adams women’s’ team for the past two years and after being their social exec this has pushed my communication and social skills, which will really benefit me in the upcoming months.

The ruminant placement

After applying for a scholarship with the business in 2019, I was lucky enough to be offered the placement. During my placement year, I have the chance to delve into all aspects of the ruminant feed business including; forage, youngstock and technical teams, formulations and supply chain.

Over the past month with the team, I have had the opportunity to weigh calves with youngstock specialists, I visited the KWS site to learn more about the breeding and trialling of maize and I was able to visit inside of the mill in Exeter to see how feed developed from a raw material into a finalised product, which are experiences I will be talking more about in a couple of weeks. To have such experiences in such a short amount of time only shows me how much I will have to learn and be a part of over the next 12 months!

My overall goals

My peak interest when starting with the company is to understand how ForFarmers, the total feed business, help farmers gain maximum profitability out of their business, whilst being able to provide the best advice which helps sustain a well running and functioning farm. Currently, I hope to specialise in the youngstock area with schemes such as ‘Target24’ ensuring dairy farmers get healthy calves developing into strong heifers that calve at the desired 24 months. However, after being exposed to other aspects of the business my view may change to something else within ForFarmers over the next year, which will be interesting to see develop.

I am going to share my experience through a blog which I hope will be a interesting read for those interested in what ForFarmers get up to and for anyone interested in a future scholarship or job in the industry.

I look forward to my time with ForFarmers and I am excited to see what I can bring to the company.

Blog: My Placement Year at ForFarmers

A bit about me

The ruminant placement

My overall goals

Interested in Working @ForFarmers?

Your career