Pioneering Reaseheath College in Nantwich, Cheshire, has launched a programme of free evening master classes to encourage farmers to increase their profits.
The master classes are being offered through the Reaseheath Agricultural Development Academy, a new initiative which aims to lead and support innovation and entrepreneurship throughout the agricultural industry.
The meetings, on the first Wednesday evening of each month, feature keynote speakers from the industry and are themed around improving profitability and technology transfer.
The first master class, entitled 'The Pitfalls and Profits of your Milk Contract', was held in October and had progressive local dairy farmers David Johnson, Ed Dale and Stuart Royle talking to a packed audience.
Said organiser Tim Goldsbrough: "The speakers were really informative and challenging and made the attendees think outside the box. The general consensus was that it was a great evening, that everyone was really looking forward to future events and that the Reaseheath Agricultural Development Academy is a fantastic concept."
The second master class 'Profit from Nutrient Management and NVZ Regulations' will be held on Wednesday 7th November and will feature Nutrient Management Consultant Mark Tripney and the Environment Agency's Andrew Penton, and local farmer Richard Beck. December 5th's offering, entitled 'Saving Wasted Profit', will consider how to prevent profit disappearing down the plug hole with rain water usage consultant Anne Draper and slurry digester specialist Stephen Price.
The master classes are part of what is planned to be an industry-led programme of techical skills training and education in enterprise and farm management. Leading industry experts will join college lecturers in delivering specialist skills.
Business mentoring and advice, ensuring that ideas progress on a sound business footing, will be available through the Rural Enterprise Gateway, which is based at Reaseheath College.
Outlining the benefits of the academy, Head of Agriculture Iain Clarke said: "we are offering a service which is relevant to local farmers. We also want to encourage and develop young people, who will face future challenges in a fast changing industry..
"The demand for high level training is increasing, particularly among those who want to increase their profitability and business acumen. The main aim of the master classes is to provide an ideal opportunity for farmers to share good practice."
Reaseheath Agricultural Development Academy will also support the Defra Fresh Start initiative by offering business training and mentoring to new entrants into farming. It is hoped to match skills, enthusiasm and energy of the new entrant with the needs of an established farmer who is considering retirement or taking a less active role.
The college's decision to launch the Reaseheath Agricultural Development Academy comes at the same time as a £25million campus-wide investment programme - £1.35million of which will upgrade the farm teaching facilities and provide a state of the art rapid exit milking palour for the onsite Genus MOET herd.
A welfare friendly pig unit is to be build. In addition, extra land has just been secured to provide increased arable production.
The investment is in answer to growing demand for full and part-time training. Student numbers have increased four fold in the past four years to over 250. Reaseheath is officially recognised as the country's premier land based college following an outstanding Ofsted inspection and is the recent recipient of a Beacon award.
For further details of the Reaseheath Agricultural Development Academy contact 01270 628621 or email timg@reaseheath.ac.uk
