THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM Recruitment Role Profile Form
Job Title: Apprentice Dairy Herdsperson
School/Department: Biosciences, University Farm, Sutton Bonington Campus
Salary: £14,257 per annum
Job Family and Level: Advanced Apprenticeship
Hours of Work: Full time
Reporting to: Mike Davies
Purpose of the Role:
To assist the Herd Manager with day to day herd duties, including animal welfare, nutrition, animal health including safe and appropriate use of veterinary medicines, oestrus detection and AI, operation of stationary machinery and automated feed and milking systems, water and slurry operations, maintenance of health and safety procedures, support for animal trial work and livestock record keeping. Training for the above duties will be provided through the University of Nottingham Farm and the Livestock Production component of the Advanced Apprenticeship scheme (Agriculture Level 3) delivered by DART.
Main Responsibilities % time per year
1. Feeding and nutrition of animals. This will involve giving support to the Herd 15% manager in the area of calf feeding and nutrition as well as being involved with the formulation of feeds for the milking and dry cows. 2. Animal health and use of veterinary medicines; animal health and welfare will 15% be a priority action area for the position holder. It is expected that the individual will be trained in these areas to a very high standard using the veterinary and livestock husbandry expertise of those they will be working with. 3. Oestrus detection and AI. In association with the herds manager and other 10% external technicians, the position holder will be exposed to the very latest technical aids and systems and after training will be expected to demonstrate his/her ability in due course. 4. Machinery operation, including AMS robots. Under the guidance of the herd 20% manager the post holder will be trained in the use of the automated milking system, be able to make simple repairs effective and liaise with the external maintenance provider as is appropriate. 5. Water and waste operations; varied and vital area of provision of quality and 10% clean water for the livestock and cows. Links with 2 above. Ensuring livestock bedding areas are maintained to a high standard within the post holders area of responsibility, this, together with informing their line manger any relevant issues they may notice. 6. Health and Safety. Regular and ongoing training will be given both in house 10% and through the use of external providers in this key area, a result of which, it
Recruitment is expected the role holder will obtain Lantra certification in areas necessary to perform their role safely as well as learning and understanding the importance of Health & Safety within the School and the University. 7. Support for trials involving dairy animals. Linked to 1, 2, 4, 5 above and 8 10% below 8. Record keeping. Training will be given in this vital area, especially in the area 10% of Oestrus, calving and veterinary medical record keeping, linked to 1, 2, 3 and 7 above.
Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications & Experience
Essential Desirable Qualifications/ Minimum two GCSEs at grade B from Some experience of working with Education English, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, farm animals. Geography or similar; total of five GCSEs overall with min of grade C for remaining three subjects. Skills/Training Familiarity with IT including word processing, email and spreadsheets. Dedication and commitment to achieve success (Advanced Apprenticeship requirement).
Experience Experience of working with farm animals.
Decision Making i) taken independently by the role holder After appropriate training, the role holder will be responsible for carrying out daily tasks relating to the main responsibilities listed above. Some limited decision making will be expected, particularly where additional support from other staff is needed, as in ii) below. ii) taken in collaboration with others See iii). iii) referred to the appropriate line manager (Nigel Armstrong) by the role holder As this is an Apprenticeship role, the main decision making element will be to distinguish between activities that require additional assistance and those that do not and to make sure that assistance is obtained from the line manager (Nigel Armstrong).
Additional Information University Farm comprises 445 hectares of arable and forage crops and is based at the Sutton Bonington Campus of the University of Nottingham. Enterprises are based around Dairy and Arable Centres, with circa 200 Holsteins, robotically milked; 300 hectares of combinable crops based at three sites to the south of Nottingham; environmental stewardship; animal and crop research trials and a small sheep flock. The farm has four full time staff: Farm Manager, Herd Manager, two stockmen. Academic input into the management of the farm is provided by the Farm Director.
Please quote ref: APP2015-143415
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