| Education
NSC New Zealand study tour Agriculture students take top
prizes in Great Farm Challenge
Seventeen Level 3 Agriculture students & two members of
staff from the Walford Campus of North Shropshire College
have spent 3 weeks on a study tour in New Zealand.
he group spent their
time at Taratahi
Agricultural College,
near Masterton in
the North Island.
The College
owns/manages on behalf of partners,
over 50,000 sheep, cattle and deer
as well as 2,500 dairy cows.
Sian Spear Agriculture Assessor
commented, ‘The study tour was a
chance not only to learn a range of
farming methods and analyse the
difference from the UK farming
industry, but to have a once in a life
time opportunity to visit a fantastic
country.’
Whilst on the study tour the
students visited sheep, deer, goat
and dairy farms, as well as popular
tourist areas of the North Island.
Students got the opportunity to focus
on practical skills such as; fencing,
chainsaws, butchery and quad
biking with the Taratahi College
instructors. The group visited Lake
Taupo, Rotorua, Wellington and
Palmerston North. The trip included
watching a New Zealand rugby
game and racing at Speedway, those
who were brave enough took part in
bungee jumping. Staff and students
enjoyed white water rafting and
visited Huka Falls, the beach at
T
Castle Point, saw a colony of seals at
Cape Pallister and collected Paua
shells.
Roger Morris Agriculture
Instructor comments, ‘Getting the
chance to shear sheep in a ten stand
woolshed that was originally built
over a hundred years ago, for some
was the highlight of the tour; it would
be a sight to behold with ten
shearers as many rousies and just
over a thousand sheep under cover
to shear. For others it was the
chance to see some hunterways
working, bringing down 300 cows
with their 3 month old calves at foot
off the side of a small 100 acre
mountain, down to the stock yards
where they were weaned, ear tagged
and drenched. The students were in
their element and the general
opinion was that we weren't there
long enough!’
Towards the end of the trip, the
group had morning tea and a bbq at
ADB Williams Trust, Hawkes Bay.
There is still time to apply for
Agriculture qualifications at NSC, you
can visit our website: www.nsc.ac.uk
. You can also apply by calling our
Admissions Team on 01691 688080,
or email [email protected]
46 | Farming Monthly | June 2017
Reaseheath College agricultural students won a multi
agency challenge to prove they understand best
environmental practice.
hree Level 3
Extended Diploma
in Agriculture
teams from the
Cheshire college
qualified for the
north west finals of The Great
Farm Challenge, a competition run
by Natural England, the
Environment Agency and United
Utilities. The students’
presentations on how to improve
on-farm water quality so
impressed the judges that a
Reaseheath team won the
competition while another came
third.
Competing against students
from Myerscough and Newton
Rigg colleges, the next generation
farmers looked at environmental
farming practices and attended
interactive learning sessions. They
then visited a farm and produced
reports on issues and changes
needed.
Reaseheath’s Bethany Osborne
and Rachael Millward took first
prize for their recommendations
T
on water management while Oliver
Haines and Harry Fletcher were
third for their presentation on
pesticide and herbicide use. A
third Reaseheath team just missed
out on a place after a worthy
presentation on soil management.
Natural England’s Andy
Wagstaff explained: “The aim of
the competition is to improve the
students’ understanding of the
impact of agriculture on water
sources. This means focusing on
minimising run off from pesticides,
nutrients and suspended solids
while also looking at ways of using
water wisely on the farm.
Reaseheath Course Manager
Lisa Kennedy added: “This was a
brilliant competition in which all
students demonstrated excellent
knowledge and understanding of
agriculture’s impact on the
environment. The judges were
particularly impressed with the
students’ interpretation of
information and with their excellent
delivery.”
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