Nearly £1 million is being invested in agricultural teaching facilities at Scotland’s Rural College's (SRUC) organic-certified farm, based at its Aberdeen campus.
The new facilities will help promote skills and knowledge to support the agricultural industry across the region, the college said.
More than £900,000 will be used to create a new engineering workshop and demonstration areas for farm machinery.
A new livestock shed and animal handling equipment will also be put in place at SRUC’s organic-certified Tulloch Farm, part of the Craibstone campus.
In addition, the site will see a new car park, new storage areas for farming and demonstration equipment as well as improved road access.
The work will be completed in phases, with the project set to be finished by the end of 2022.
Professor Wayne Powell, principal of SRUC said: “Helping to prepare agricultural students with the skills and knowledge to move with the times and take advantage of new opportunities has been an important part of what we do at SRUC.
"This is not just an investment in buildings, but an investment in the food producers of tomorrow who will be at the vanguard of addressing climate change and biodiversity loss.”
NFU Scotland's vice president Andrew Connon welcomed the investment, saying Craibstone had been a 'hugely important' agricultural education facility.
“The North East of Scotland is the power house of Scottish agriculture and the farming community is desperate to see improvements and further development of agricultural education facilities," he said.
The investment in Tulloch Farm is the latest in a series of investments being made at SRUC’s Craibstone campus over the next year.
Other announced projects include a veterinary clinical skills hub, new equine facilities, and improvements to the student experience across the campus.
