The mass decline in agricultural labour in Britain since the industrial revolution has, until recently, led to the farm worker being fundamentally overlooked within the agricultural research agenda over the last fifty years, while labour shortages in farming persist at a global scale. Data regarding those who actively work at the ‘frontline’ of agriculture is minimal, as are understandings of the career pathways linked to non-capital related occupational succession in agricultural occupations. Using empirical evidence from a survey of 1251 farms in the South West of England, as well as 45 semi-structured interviews with farmers, farm workers and agricultural contractors, this study employs the Human Capability Framework to examine the career trajectory of the farm labour contributor, and identifies potential constraints to a sustained career in agriculture. Findings demonstrate that farm labour contributors largely, but not always, stem from an agricultural background, arriving via one of three pathways; direct, further/higher education or post-travel, and that farm-level, local-level and national-level constraints exist which influence the capacities and opportunities available to a potential farm worker. Such constraints ultimately affect the ability not only to recruit staff and contend with labour shortage issues in the sector, but also to match employees' and employers' suitably to one another.

自工业革命以来，英国农业劳动力的大规模减少一直持续到最近，导致过去五十年来农业研究议程中根本忽视了农场工人，而全球范围内的农业劳动力短缺仍然存在。关于那些积极从事农业“第一线”工作的人的数据很少，对与非职业相关的农业职业继任相关的职业道路的理解也很少。利用对英格兰西南部1251个农场进行的调查以及对农民，农场工人和农业承包商进行的45次半结构化访谈的经验证据，本研究采用了“人的能力框架”来检验农场劳动力贡献者的职业轨迹，并确定阻碍农业可持续发展的潜在障碍。研究结果表明，农业劳动力贡献者在很大程度上但并非总是来自农业背景，是通过三种途径之一到达的。直接的，继续的/高等教育的或旅行后的，并且存在农场级别，地方级别和国家级别的限制，这些限制会影响潜在农场工人可用的能力和机会。这种限制最终不仅影响了该部门的招聘能力和应对劳动力短缺问题的能力，而且还影响了雇员和雇主之间的适当匹配。并且存在农场级，地方级和国家级的约束，这些约束影响了潜在的农场工人可获得的能力和机会。这种限制最终不仅影响了该部门的招聘能力和应对劳动力短缺问题的能力，而且还影响了雇员和雇主之间的适当匹配。并且存在农场级，地方级和国家级的约束，这些约束影响了潜在的农场工人可获得的能力和机会。这种限制最终不仅影响了该部门的招聘能力和应对劳动力短缺问题的能力，而且还影响了雇员和雇主之间的适当匹配。