Two more students get helping hand into farming after support from Kaleb Cooper
Kaleb met with one of the recipients 19-year-old Isaac Covington at Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire today
Two students from Cirencester's Royal Agricultural University are getting a big head start in the farming industry after becoming the latest recipients of the Kaleb Cooper award.
Kaleb met with one of the recipients 19-year-old Isaac Covington at the annual Cereals event at Jeremy Clarkson's Diddly Squat Farm in Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire today (June 10).
This years bursary recipients, 23-year-old Robyn Sherriff and Isaac Covington, are the fifth and sixth students respectively to receive the RAU Kaleb Cooper Agriculture Bursary since its establishment in 2023.
The bursary, now in its third year, assists undergraduate agriculture students, offering a £3000 payment and potential work placements with Kaleb or his industry partners.
Isaac Covington, 19, originally from Cherhill, Wiltshire, is pursuing a degree in Agriculture at RAU.
Although not from a farming background, Isaac discovered his passion for agriculture through work experience, which has led to a part-time job on a local farm.
Isaac plans to use his bursary money to purchase Aberdeen Angus calves, with aspirations to own his own smallholding.
He said: “I am not at all from a farming background – my mum is an artist and my dad works in IT – but, when I was younger, I went to a lot of big machinery days and Open Farm Sundays and I just loved the idea of working with animals and machinery.
“In Year 10, I did my work experience at the farm in the village. At the end of the work experience week, they offered me a part-time job and I've worked there ever since – for the last four years! I do everything - yard work, milking, and working during the harvest.”
Robyn Sherriff, 23, who grew up in Zambia, is completing an additional year at RAU for her BSc (Hons) Agri-Management after finishing a foundation degree in Agricultural and Farm Management.
The bursary has alloed Robyn to reduce her workload from four part-time jobs and purchase a second-hand car.
She explained: “Receiving the bursary has totally changed my university experience. Having the car means that I spend much less time getting to and from both lectures and work so I have more time to devote to my studies.
“Since I am from an agricultural background, I wasn’t sure if I would qualify for the bursary but I thought I might as well give it a try as I saw that he was also encouraging applications from students who were in financial need.
“Obviously studying abroad isn’t cheap so I was working four different jobs, alongside my university work, just to fund my studies and day to day life. Being able to give up two jobs – and freeing that time up to concentrate on my studies - has already made a massive difference.”
She added: “When I graduate from the RAU I would love to buy some virgin land in Zambia and start my own timber farm, planting Eucalyptus and pine, and then do cash crops, like broiler chickens and cabbages, once I can afford a borehole for irrigation to keep me going while the trees are growing.”
Professor Peter McCaffery, Vice-Chancellor at the RAU, said: “We are extremely grateful to Kaleb for his continuing support of our students. Kaleb is a passionate champion of farming - as we see on Clarkson’s Farm - and it’s terrific that he is helping new entrants and the next generation of farmers to realise their aspirations. It’s a real incentive for our students.”