From field to fork: Moulton College students explore lamb production

Students studying Agriculture at Moulton College have recently been guided through a unique practical exercise exploring lamb production, which culminated with a visit to the University of Northampton’s Institute for Creative Leather Technologies (ICLT).

The Moulton College students, who are studying the Foundation Degree in Agriculture, have been working on a project to ‘add value’ to the College’s sheep enterprise, by processing and selling fresh lamb to students and staff. The lamb has been processed at Joseph Morris of South Kilworth and delivered directly to the customer, pre-cut into joints ready for cooking.

As part of the project the students made links with the University of Northampton’s Institute for Creative Leather Technologies, to consider processing the sheepskins for rugs and other diversification products. Rachel Garwood, Director of the Institute for Creative Leather Technologies, collected the sheep skins from the abattoir and took them to the University’s tannery for processing. The students visited the tannery the next day and assisted with salting the skins to remove excess moisture and had an insightful tour of the tannery.

Rachel Garwood, Director of the ICLT commented: “It was a delight to spend time with Moulton College’s agricultural students looking at their raw sheepskins as a valuable by-product of their industry. I welcome the planned close collaboration which will further educate the students in this area and add value to their important role in the leather supply chain. This is a unique opportunity to link up leather manufacturing and animal husbandry. This new relationship enables Northampton to address the complete leather supply chain from ‘Farm to Footwear’ from a Higher Education perspective – something no other University is able to do!”

Moulton College Livestock lecturer Darren Pearson explained: “This is just one example of how student-centred learning can bring agriculture to life. It has been a real learning curve for the students who have enjoyed the responsibility of managing a meat production enterprise from ‘field to fork’.”

Darren added: “The tour of the tannery made them think hard about the basic husbandry of their livestock from the point of view of the leather producer. I hope it will inspire the students to think creatively about opportunities in livestock production that are compatible with a sustainable economic model in farming.”