Leading UK ag college wants to create sustainable farming school

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Main UK ag school desires to create sustainable farming college

01 April 2021

Harper Adams College hopes to launch the UK’s first Faculty of Sustainable Meals and Farming.

Supported by Morrisons, with co-partner RAFT Options Ltd, the varsity will draw on educational and sensible experience, in addition to trade networks, to develop information and abilities for farmers and different companies within the provide chain, who’re dedicated to lowering the environmental influence of meals manufacturing.

Professor Michael Lee, Harper Adams Deputy Vice-Chancellor, stated: “We’re extraordinarily excited to staff up with Morrisons and RAFT Options to ship this critically-needed collaboration which can help the transition to a extra sustainable meals system delivering to each human and planetary well being.

“The preliminary targets might be centred round methods to obtain net-zero UK agriculture. Nonetheless, the ambition of the varsity will embrace wider elements of sustainability together with biodiversity, animal welfare, rural group help, inexperienced power manufacturing and farm profitability.”

The varsity will help and additional develop manufacturing techniques analysis geared in direction of extra sustainable farming. Analysis subjects initially will embrace: livestock breed selection, weight loss program composition, yield enchancment, agricultural constructing design, on-farm renewable power, precision farming, sensors and use of information.

Utilizing information from the analysis, the varsity will search to develop sensible recommendation and steering to assist farmers modify their practices to be extra sustainable. RAFT Options Ltd will play a key function in growing sensible abilities coaching related to animal breeding and well being.

Prof Jonathan Statham, Chief Government of RAFT Options Ltd and Professor of Sustainable Livestock Well being and Welfare on the Harper & Keele Vet Faculty, stated: “We’re extremely proud to help Morrisons in its net-zero ambition, which is true to the very core of RAFT’s exercise and the imaginative and prescient for Harper & Keele Vet Faculty to make an actual distinction at farm stage with sensible and achievable options to the sustainability problem.”

“The pressures on farming and farmers are intense however there are win-win alternatives the place higher animal well being and welfare are higher economically in addition to higher for the planet. Lowering the waste of poor well being and reproductive inefficiency alongside delivering sensible precision livestock farming (PLF) options is the place our work helps sustainable farming.”

Sophie Throup, Head of Agriculture at Morrisons, stated: “We’re making a major funding into this venture as a part of our pledge to be the primary grocery store to be straight provided by web zero carbon British farms by 2030. We stay up for working as a partnership and to bringing the most effective brains collectively throughout the trade – to supply this new breadth of sustainability coaching for our British farmers.”

The varsity may also present a platform from which related analysis may be translated and scaled to help the whole meals worth chain.

Capital funding in actual farming initiatives will allow direct farming engagement with the varsity, for the good thing about all. Work placements, apprenticeships and different workforce improvement initiatives are additionally being thought-about to help the necessity for future sustainable meals and farming professionals.