Land-based covers an awful lot – from farming and fisheries to floristry and forestry. We take a look at a selection of careers in the agricultural industry.

Working with your hands, not being stuck in an office – sound appealing? The land-based industry is huge and if you love the land then there’s bound to be a land-based career to suit you. We take a look at four favourites of ours - dry-stone walling, fish farming, farm management and floristry.

Environmental conservation: Dry-stone walling

Jobs don’t get much more hands on that this. If you love the great outdoors and want a job where you can preserve the landscape, then dry-stone walling might well be your thing.

Environmental conservation workers are involved in the conservation of landscapes. Dry stone walling is an ancient craft which sets the boundaries between fields. Dry stone walls are a beautiful feature of the British countryside and the skills needed to repair and preserve these features are in great demand.

As its name suggests, no cement is used to build dry stone walls and their strength comes from the interlocking method used to construct them.

The apprenticeship route

The Environmental Conservation Apprenticeship at Level 2 allows you to choose a dry-stone walling pathway. The apprenticeship includes a competence qualification in dry stone walling.

Animal magic - fish-farming

Fish farmers breed and grow fish and shell fish. They feed and monitor fish, look after the environment that the fish and shellfish live in and harvest fish stock for sale.

It’s outdoor work in all weathers and like most land-based careers, it’s a physically demanding job.

There are no set entry requirements but studying biology, agriculture, aquaculture or environmental science might be helpful. Some colleges, like Sparsholt offer courses in fishery or aquatic studies – so it’s worth looking out for these.

The most important thing if you want to work in fish farming is experience, so get yourself out there and become a member of an angling club or get some experience on a fish farm if you can.

Being able to swim is essential and being able to handle a boat would be helpful too.

Head for business and love of the land? – farm management

Farm manager look after the day-to-day operation of animal, dairy or crop farms. This might be the farming of livestock – cows, pigs or sheep, or crops, which can include cereal, vegetables or fruits.

There’s more to being a farm manager than spraying, feeding, driving tractors and operating machinery – although the job includes doing these things.

Farm managers also buy supplies, buy and sell stock, including animals, train and manage farm workers and look after the budgets.

To get a job as a farm manager you would normally need an HND, foundation degree or bachelor’s degree in agriculture, crop management or land / estate management.

Experience is important and there are some companies that offer work experience; such as Farmcare which offers work experience in arable and fruit farming and WWOOF which offers work experience abroad.

Get creative and colourful – Floristry

Florists work in shops, garden centres and out and about at event locations. They work with fresh cut, dried and silk flowers.

If you work in a flower shop or garden centre then you will probably have to deal with customers, helping them choose flowers or plants. You’ll also have to look after plants and flowers, keeping them at the right temperature.

A big part of the job as a florist is designing and preparing flower arrangements. This includes arrangements for funerals, weddings and other special events.

If you work in retail, expect busy periods, such as Valentine’s Day and you may need to delivery flowers and put together displays at events, so you may need to drive.

There are no set entry requirements but experience in retail would be helpful and there are floristry courses that you can attend to develop the skills needed.