College Calendar: Steve Mears enjoys a working holiday

It seems ages ago now – but the Easter break is a manic time for agricultural students.

Other students see it as a chance to rest and relax but, for us, the work ranges from lambing ewes to planting potatoes – and everything else in between. It’s often a hectic time, but also a golden chance to earn some much-needed money.

Like many on my course, I have been no exception and spent most of my time off working and enjoying the glorious sunshine that blessed Somerset during the holidays.

As some regular readers may recall from a previous column, I enjoyed learning about dairy farming during lectures last term. Keen on building up some experience in this sector, I was kept busy learning the ropes of milking cows on a dairy farm not far from home, during my time off.

I was fortunate enough to get my first milking experience on a modern new unit, which is home to a herd of around 600 cows. The farm has undergone significant expansion over the last few years and continues to be hive of activity with the ongoing construction of additional cubicle housing.

Having never milked before and only having limited experience of dealing with cattle, I was initially nervous at the prospect of milking, not to mention the 5am starts. To begin with, I was given the task of spraying the cows teats with a disinfectant prior to the cows leaving the parlour. Several milkings later and I was the opposite side of the parlour wiping teats and putting on clusters while trying to keep up as the 64 point Delaval rotary parlour whizzed round.

The 460 cows in milk took just over two hours to milk morning and afternoon, which was preceded by the washing down of the parlour and collecting yard. I feel the cows appreciated my efforts in the parlour, one so much so that she plastered me in slurry down my neck and back first thing one morning. Not ideal. The herd which is fed on a TMR ration and bedded on sand cubicles, appeared to be in excellent condition despite spending the majority of their lives indoors.

Having now gained experience working on a large dairy unit I have begun to question some of the arguments that campaigners have against such units, particularly about animal welfare. The UK has some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world and, having seen first-hand how well cattle are looked after, I feel that the UK is well placed and ready for large scale dairying operations, such as the planned Nocton Dairies in Lincolnshire. Perhaps it would be worthwhile for some of those against such farms to visit a large operation to see how well stock are cared for.

With milking over and now several weeks back into my final term, most students have started revising for the summer exams.

The dreaded examination timetable was published at the end of last term – although back then I didn’t take too much notice as exams seemed a long way off. However with the dates drawing rapidly closer, the Bamford library has begun to become one of the busiest buildings on campus, as students try to cram in last-minute facts, figures and information.

As well as revising, I have been busy working on my last assignment of the year, research methods. This has involved analysing a set of agricultural data through the use of a range of research methods including statistics, correlation and T tests. Having analysed the data, the assignment criteria required the results to be discussed and presented in a word-processed report.

With a fair amount of mathematics involved, I have been finding this quite challenging although extra tuition in Microsoft Excel and mathematics support from the Aspire Centre on campus has been helpful. Fingers crossed I shall get a good mark.

With my last assignment of the year nearing completion and several more weeks of trawling through lectures notes to endure, I am looking forward to the Agriculture and Business course dinner. The event, set to be held in a marquee on campus, includes a sit down meal, followed by live entertainment, as well as a famous guest speaker from the industry. It should be a fantastic evening and a nice distraction from revision.

Steve Mears, 19, is in the first year of a four-year degree in Agriculture with Mechanisation at Harper Adams in Shropshire