Education & Training

The Morley Agricultural Foundation (TMAF) has a wide-ranging and long-term commitment to sharing knowledge. Our constitution pledges “to provide access to training for farmers, researchers, and advisors to the agricultural industry” and “to establish a designated education fund for the education and career development of agricultural students”.

Put simply, there is little point in our funding and facilitating research without sharing the results to those who could use them. TMAF commits to this by making provision for reports to be published, and by maintaining this website. Also, we host meetings through out the year including our open day each June.

TMAF part or fully funds numerous PhD and MSc students. This enables a subject or issue to be investigated but also helps develop a scientist, with a hope that person continues a career in agricultural science and discovering and sharing knowledge for farming.

Each year, TMAF awards bursaries to people in farming who wish to further their career by undertaking short (1 or 2 week) courses.

We select people who demonstrate they truly want to develop or hone their skills and use them back in a farming business in East Anglia.

This is a three-day course for people in farming, research or advisory professions who want to develop their communication skills. The late John Forrest often said that farmers and researchers are good at what they do but not so good at sharing the knowledge they gain.

The course covers how to confidently stand up in front of an audience and present information powerfully and comment in a clear, concise and memorable way. It includes a session on media skills, how to be interviewed for TV and radio. Also, how to make better video and take better pictures. Other topics are professional use of social media, how to facilitate meaningful discussion and writing articles. TMAF co-funds this annual course with the Felix Thornley Cobbold Agricultural Trust.

In recent years many agricultural show associations have an annual event inviting schools to show-grounds to learn about food, farming and rural crafts and careers. They tend to include demonstrations of machinery and hands-on activities. TMAF has given financial assistance to many such events. Again, these are preferred to be within East Anglia and where the organisation can demonstrate measurable and positive outcomes.

If you hope you are eligible for funding then, in the first instance, please write to Michaela.Canham@tmaf.co.uk, explaining briefly what research, professional development or educational activity with school age children you have in mind. If your idea falls within our funding criteria you will be sent an application form.

TMAF resources are finite and so we only offer funding to the most deserving cases and that meet the criteria we have for each category of investment.