Working together to Level the Field

This week marks Community Week at Harper Adams  - five days of workshops, talks, practical sessions and experiences designed to bring the whole University community together.

Among the events will be one organised in conjunction with Farmers Weekly, where the publication’s Deputy Editor Abi Kay and Nuffield Scholar Liz Haines will be talking about the Level the Field campaign.

In this guest blog Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning, Teaching and Digital) Professor Lydia Arnold explains what the campaign means for Harper Adams University – and why we chose to get involved.

As we begin 2026, Harper Adams University is pleased to be partnering with Farmers Weekly as a supporter of its national Level the Field campaign.

Each year, Farmers Weekly uses the campaign to shine a spotlight on an aspect of inclusion within agriculture, helping to prompt conversation, share practical examples and highlight ways in which the industry can become more accessible to all. Over time, Level the Field has become an important platform for exploring both the barriers people face in agriculture and the opportunities that come from doing things differently.

In 2026, the campaign focus is on physical health.

This recognises the reality that many people working in agriculture live with long term health conditions, injuries or impairments which shape how they experience the working day. Farming can be physically demanding, and for some, traditional approaches to jobs, machinery or working practices create unnecessary obstacles.

By highlighting these challenges, the campaign aims not only to raise awareness but also to demonstrate how relatively small changes can make a meaningful difference. Making farming more accessible to people with different physical needs is not just about fairness. It is also about improving performance, resilience and sustainability across the sector by valuing the full range of skills, experience and perspectives people bring.

This year’s focus builds directly on earlier Level the Field campaigns.

In 2025, the spotlight was on neurodiversity, exploring how people who think, learn and process information differently engage with agricultural work around the world.

As part of that campaign, Harper Adams welcomed Farmers Weekly to our annual Learning and Teaching Conference.

At the conference, research by Liz Haines undertaken through a Nuffield Scholarship was shared with colleagues from across the University. The work explored different ways neurodiverse people access farming globally, and the distinctive contributions they make to businesses and communities. The session sparked wide discussion, reflecting the strong commitment among Harper Adams staff to supporting students with a range of neurodiverse profiles.

That commitment continues to grow. Colleagues across disciplines are increasingly working closely with Level the Field and exploring how campaign resources can be used with students. These conversations help students reflect on inclusion not just as an abstract idea, but as something they will encounter in their own lives, in placements, as employees and later as potential managers and leaders within the industry.

At Harper Adams, inclusion and equity are central to our values and to the way we approach teaching, research and engagement.

This collaboration will take another step forward during Community Week. This annual programme brings together talks, workshops and activities, including our Future Farm conference for students.

As part of the week, we will welcome Farmers Weekly back to campus to share insights from the Level the Field campaign with both staff and students.

By engaging directly with the campaign themes, we hope to encourage thoughtful discussion, challenge assumptions and support our community to play its part in creating a more accessible agricultural sector.

Whether through future research, teaching, or professional practice, Harper Adams is proud to be contributing to the collective effort to level the field.