Gelli sets excellence standard
Gelli sets excellence standard
GELLI Aur College has bid successfully to become the Welsh National Assemblys £20m Farming Connect initiatives centre of excellence in dairying.
Farming Connect is a partnership of public and private organisations designed to give producers one-stop access to advice, development, marketing grants, education and training and best farming practices.
Existing projects, such as the technology transfer initiatives run by the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research, Welsh Sheep Strategy and Organic Centre Wales, will also be covered by the partnership.
Gelli Aur will work closely with an organic dairy unit in central Wales and Llysfasi College in north Wales, where milk production is combined with beef and sheep farming. When foot-and-mouth has cleared all three will be the focus for demonstrations and conferences.
Other agencies
The college will also be responsible for working with other agencies to disseminate information on the latest technological developments.
The internet is likely to play an increasingly important role, believes John Griffiths, who manages the colleges two-herd project. Gelli Aur has applied to register a domain name and its site will carry all the latest figures from both its dairy herds and, eventually, comparative figures from other dairy farms.
The college also plans to work closely with Welsh dairy discussion groups and hopes that five members of each will provide detailed farm costings. Results from each will be amalgamated to provide average figures for different types and sizes of farms, which will be published confidentially. *