The bells of change have rang in for the College Farm at North Shropshire College’s (NSC) Walford Campus, as our new farm Manager starts work. Stephen Elsdon recently started work as the Farm Manager; Stephen brings with him a wealth of experience in farming. He is a Yorkshire lad born and brought up on the family farm and, after college, has worked with his father and brother in establishing and managing a high performing dairy herd and farm business.
Stephen has a vast amount of experience working with robotic milking machines and using them as part of the overall management of increasing milk yields while at the same time keeping an eye on the costs. In this very challenging time that the dairy industry is in, it is all about cost of production and producing a litre of milk as cheaply as possible whilst at the same time maintaining quality.
We are very fortunate here at NSC to be able to demonstrate two very different dairy farming systems. On the farm we have two dairy herds - firstly we have the UK grassland system where the cows are milked through a more conventional herringbone (24/24) parlour, housed on cubicles and complete diet fed in the winter and using a paddock grazing system in the summer. The second system we have is the cows are milked multiple times through a robotic milking machine, kept inside all year round on straw yards and demonstrate a high input and high output system. We are not saying which system is better than the other, but our students can make their own minds up which will influence their decisions in the future.
The Farm has recently held its annual Spring Lambing Day, where Walford Campus is opened up to members of the public who can visit the Agricultural, Equine, Animal Care, Sport and Engineering parts of Walford Campus. Also, a big draw to the public is the lambs and pregnant ewes as we as the displays from the Whitchurch Dog Display Team, the Walford Cows and others.
For more information or to apply for Agricultural, Equine, Animal Care, Engineering, Sport courses at NSC’s Walford Campus, please call the Admissions Team on 01691 688080 or visit www.nsc.ac.uk.
