Amanda Thomas
Laylands Farm,
KAT Farm Services,
North Yorkshire
Sponsored by: Isuzu
AMANDA Thomas throws her all into everything and can turn her hand to many farm tasks. Having grown up on a small dairy farm, but with no succession opportunities, Amanda, 26, moved to a different area and worked on a family-run dairy farm in Ellerton-on-Swales for 10 years until the cows were sold. She remained at the farm for a further two years, helping her former boss with beef and arable work.
In 2019, she became self-employed and now works for four different employers in Scorton, North Yorkshire, mostly contracting for a large-scale business from February, the start of slurry season, until maize in October. Amanda also relief milks through winter at a 600-cow dairy farm in Barton, Lancashire, and a 1,000-goat dairy, which also runs dairy cows on a robotic system, in Appleton Wiske, Vale of York.
She also holds a Class 1 licence and drives a livestock wagon as and when she can. Despite delivering a host of farm work jobs, she has worked hard to climb the ladder. Amanda says: “As a female in a stereotypically male environment, I would say I have to put the same amount of work ethic, if not more, into everything I do to prove it is not just a man’s world. “To be fair to my employers, they do treat me the same as any other member of staff and I would not have it any other way.”
Amanda is self-motivated and has certificates in cattle artificial insemination, foot trimming, livestock movement and spraying. One of her key strengths, Amanda says, is her humour, which helps boost work moral, as well as her ability to complete any task thrown at her to the best of her ability. She says: “I like being known as the person to call if someone wants a job done properly. Customer satisfaction is what I live for, I love it and everything I do, even tanking, I try and do to the best of my ability for that customer.” Looking ahead, Amanda says she would like to come home to her own shed of dairy cows one day.
About Amanda Thomas
- Self-employed and works for four businesses
- Has upskilled herself to offer better services to customers, such as getting her sprayer tickets and learning how to artificially inseminate cows
- Lives for customer satisfaction
- A key strength is her ability to complete any task thrown at her to the best of her ability
Amanda Thomas
Laylands Farm,
KAT Farm Services,
North Yorkshire
Sponsored by: Isuzu
AMANDA Thomas throws her all into everything and can turn her hand to many farm tasks. Having grown up on a small dairy farm, but with no succession opportunities, Amanda, 26, moved to a different area and worked on a family-run dairy farm in Ellerton-on-Swales for 10 years until the cows were sold. She remained at the farm for a further two years, helping her former boss with beef and arable work.
In 2019, she became self-employed and now works for four different employers in Scorton, North Yorkshire, mostly contracting for a large-scale business from February, the start of slurry season, until maize in October. Amanda also relief milks through winter at a 600-cow dairy farm in Barton, Lancashire, and a 1,000-goat dairy, which also runs dairy cows on a robotic system, in Appleton Wiske, Vale of York.
She also holds a Class 1 licence and drives a livestock wagon as and when she can. Despite delivering a host of farm work jobs, she has worked hard to climb the ladder. Amanda says: “As a female in a stereotypically male environment, I would say I have to put the same amount of work ethic, if not more, into everything I do to prove it is not just a man’s world. “To be fair to my employers, they do treat me the same as any other member of staff and I would not have it any other way.”
Amanda is self-motivated and has certificates in cattle artificial insemination, foot trimming, livestock movement and spraying. One of her key strengths, Amanda says, is her humour, which helps boost work moral, as well as her ability to complete any task thrown at her to the best of her ability. She says: “I like being known as the person to call if someone wants a job done properly. Customer satisfaction is what I live for, I love it and everything I do, even tanking, I try and do to the best of my ability for that customer.” Looking ahead, Amanda says she would like to come home to her own shed of dairy cows one day.
About Amanda Thomas
- Self-employed and works for four businesses
- Has upskilled herself to offer better services to customers, such as getting her sprayer tickets and learning how to artificially inseminate cows
- Lives for customer satisfaction
- A key strength is her ability to complete any task thrown at her to the best of her ability