The Land Based Industry

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Although reduced in size, the land based industries are still one of Scotland’s important industries.

About two per cent of all Scottish jobs are in the land based industries (40,400).
Most jobs are in the rural parts of Scotland.

Areas included

The land-based industries include 17 sectors and jobs are available in:

Animal Health and Welfare	Environmental Industries	Land Management and Production
Animal Care Animal Technology Equine Farriery Veterinary Nursing	Environmental Conservation Fisheries Management Game and Wildlife Management Landscape	Agricultural Crops Agricultural Livestock Aquaculture Fencing Floristry Land-based Engineering Production Horticulture Trees and Timber

There are jobs at all levels. The majority of jobs are in skilled trades such as farmer, gardener and gamekeeper.
Many of the jobs involve working outdoors in all weathers.
Some form of work experience is important for jobs in farming and for working with animals.

For a full list of jobs in the land-based industries see below.

These industries appeal most to those with a strong interest in animal care and the countryside.
Most employers in this sector are small and medium sized businesses. Self employment is quite normal for some jobs, e.g. vet, farrier (15,000 estimated to be self employed in this sector).
Most jobs are full time. (65%)
Most employees are men (712%)
The average age of a worker is 40 - a little older than the average of 36 for Scotland as a whole.
There are fewer jobs for school leavers than in other industries, although 26% of employers have recruited a school leaver in the last two/three years.

The industries will have more job losses over the next ten years.
The majority of jobs lost will be male, full-time employees. The number of males in self-employment will also fall.
Although there will be fewer jobs in total, there will still be a need for 5,000 new employees over the next ten years to replace employees leaving the workforce or retiring.
Around 70% of new recruits will need to be in skilled trades occupations.

Find out more about where the jobs are in your area.

LANTRA is the Sector Skills Council for Land Based industries.

Lantra has developed two websites: