THE REASEHEATHRADA AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ACADEMYnews NEWSLETTER ISSUE 10 - SEPTEMBER 2014 The CAP, Greening Lameness special and your farm PAGE 11 PAGE 22 Campaign for Prince’s the Farmed Countryside Fund Environment PAGE 7 PAGE 20 www.reaseheath.ac.uk/rada a digestate that can then be applied to land as a fertiliser. Reaseheath College have two demonstration digesters on the College farm, which were Editorial commissioned in 2011 and take slurry from the 250 dairy cows and a small pig unit. The digesters run for 20 hours per day allowing 4 hours for maintenance. Every day Reaseheath invests the digesters use 23 m3 of slurry and produce 475 m3 of biogas, which is 60% methane. The CHP in sustainable engine has a 50 kw/hr capacity and runs at 38 kw/hr, providing the College with 15% of its energy needs. food production Because the College AD site is there to test the concept The long-term plan for producing food in the UK is to and spread the learning to the increase output, but to do this with reduced impact on community, there is a strong educational push to the effort. the environment. This sounds like a tough ask, although Further and higher education Meredydd David OBE, Principal of Reaseheath College in students as well as the regional Nantwich, believes not only that this can be achieved, but farming community, AD that it must be delivered. “Government strategy is to produce technologists, planners and financiers have all benefitted more and impact less, or to give it its jargon, ‘Sustainable from the facility. “We had many Intensification’”, Meredydd says and adds, “This direction challenges in operating an AD unit is vitally important if we are to produce enough food for that is solely based on slurry.” a growing population, meeting the demands of national comments Meredydd. and international markets, food security, food safety and “We do not want to take crops as feedstocks for AD that environmental improvement. Our response at Reaseheath might feed animals or humans College has been to invest heavily in these areas so that directly, such as maize or barley, businesses in the North West have an educational and and that means that maintaining knowledge base from which to grow.” digestion conditions is technically challenging.” says Meredydd. However, after much work the Food Innovation Centre training programme is industry led, plant operation is stable and the The College has recently allowing students to learn on the digestate that is produced has been invested £2 million in developing job with companies like Muller- used in grass growing trials on the its centre for supporting businesses Wiseman and Arla Foods. farm. From these the College knows in developing and growing new that the digestate material has a products and skills. The centre Pioneering AD nitrogen content of around 3.5 boasts an array of small-scale, pre- Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a kg N per m3, with availability for industrial equipment for processing way of taking waste slurry from grass growth of 55% - that’s better milk into anything from flavoured animals (mainly cows in the context than the book values and shows drinks to yoghurt, butter and ice of the North West) and allowing it to the need for analysis and on-farm cream. Companies use the facilities ferment under controlled conditions trials to get the maximum out of to develop their ideas and test the so that it produces methane gas. the material in terms of reducing market. The gas is then collected and burnt brought in fertiliser costs. The Food Innovation Centre in a CHP (combined heat and power also hosts the Eden Project, which unit) that produces electricity and Food Futures Centre trains the milk food processors and heat. So, you get power from a “We are also very excited technologists of the future. This renewable waste. The by-product is to have recently announced a 2 www.reaseheath.ac.uk/rada £10 million investment in a new educational and knowledge Industry Comments and exchange centre at Reaseheath which will operate nationally in Letters to the Editor - the area of sustainable food and farming.” Meredydd enthused. An Invitation Local MP and Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, cut the Welcome to the tenth RADA News. The aim of the newsletter is to provide first sod for the site on 9th May and useful technical and market information and insight for the farmers and the centre will be open for business rural businesses of Cheshire and the North West. We will also be featuring in September 2015. different activities, demonstration events and skills training courses that are available, and we hope that these will be of interest to all involved “If we are to achieve sustainable with farming and rural businesses in the region. intensification in food production, then we need the young people You can send us your comments and opinions on any issues and we will with the integrated skills and print some of these in future issues. Contact us at: businesses operating to use new RADA, Enterprise Delivery Hub, Reaseheath College, technologies to help farmers and growers develop further and faster. Nantwich, Cheshire, CW5 6DF. “This is our role and our duty.” Tel: 01270 613 195 concluded Meredydd. “The new Email: [email protected] centre will put the Reaseheath Team and businesses in the North West at the forefront of turning new science Too much RADA News? into commercial farming and food If you receive duplicate copies of RADA news, please contact Beth Chinn practice. And that’s where we need on 01270 613 195 or email [email protected] and we will make sure to be if we are to support agri and you only get what you need. food businesses in the region in making the most of the wonderful resources and markets that the area provides.” ABOUT RADA So you’ve heard it from the Our aim at RADA is to improve the profitability and resource use efficiency boss! These are exciting times in UK of farms in North West England by delivering high quality knowledge Agriculture plc, and therefore for transfer that is focused on the needs of farmers. Reaseheath College. The philosophy of RADA is to view ‘sustainability’ and ‘profitability’ as inextricably linked. Based at Reaseheath College, we use Government and European funding to provide training, advice and knowledge transfer which meets the needs of our region’s farmers and their employees. We also inform the rural sector and those that develop policy for it. The RADA team and partner organisations are professional, accessible, farmer focused and flexible in their dedication to filling the skills and knowledge gaps that the farming community needs in order to be profitable and sustainable. Our programmes are continually evolving and aim to provide skills and knowledge in all areas of managing businesses and people, technical farming issues and environmental matters. This occasional newsletter will keep you up to date with what is on offer. If there is anything you need that is not in our training programmes, then please contact the team on 01270 613 195 or at [email protected] and we will endeavour to help. Annette McDonald, Head of Skills, Innovation and Enterprise Solutions, Reaseheath College. www.reaseheath.ac.uk/rada Tel: 01270 613 195 Email: [email protected] 3 RADA News Reaseheath students look for alternative to soya in sheep feed Agricultural students from Reaseheath College are helping to carry out a trial to replace soya with a more sustainable UK grown protein in ewe feed. Thirty Level 3 Diploma in Agriculture students assisted Reaseheath Sheep Unit Manager Oliver Bagley and Course Manager Richard Wheeldon to run the trial during the College’s busy lambing period in March and Early April. Data collected is being evaluated to see if replacing soya with alternative sources of protein affects the growth weight and kill weight of lambs. Above: Students Callum Pitchford, Chris Adamson, Morgan Spencer and Laura Soya is traditionally imported into Bellis weigh a ewe and care for the lambs shortly after birth. this country from South America and is often fed in meal form to pregnant Uneaten food is methodically to continue their studies to degree ewes and lambs. Experts believe that gathered and weighed. All lambs are level and to look at the many science the UK needs to produce its own systematically weighed at birth, four based careers within the industry. sources of protein to improve the and eight weeks, at weaning and Taking part in a real life, hands- long term sustainability of its sheep at sale. The lambs are EID tagged, production. on trial like this also gives them the enabling the students to record the unique opportunity to deliver results The project is funded by EBLEX, data efficiently. The ewes are also which will hopefully benefit the the organisation for beef and weighed directly after lambing. industry. lamb levy payers in England, and Kate Phillips, Principal Livestock run by ADAS, the agricultural and Consultant with ADAS explained: environmental consultancy. It was Below: Callum Pitchford and Laura offered to Reaseheath because of “There is a need to find viable and the College’s partnership with the alternative sources to soya which Bellis fit an EID tag to a lamb. National Sheep Association. are more sustainable to the UK feed industry. We are delighted The trial involves feeding that Reaseheath’s agricultural different rations to six groups, each students are helping to carry out containing 40 twin bearing ewes. All this important project for us and we groups are fed TMR rations based on home-produced grass silage.