New centre to showcase sheep farming at Newton Rigg College

The centre will be a national showcase for best hill farming practice, provide the industry's future workforce and leaders with the skills they will need, and act as a demonstration farm.

Based at the college's Low Beckside Farm in Mungrisdale, the work includes demolishing the existing buildings and constructing the new Centre, which will be a steel portal framed building measuring 36m x 25m x 2.95m, with Yorkshire boarding and a fibre cement roof.

There will be new areas of hard standing to aid sheep handling, and improvements to the silage clamp. Robinsons Scotland Ltd has been awarded the contract and the centre will be completed by September.

Used throughout the year, particularly for practical teaching, it will be the focus of the college's lambing operations, a base for sheep shearing and general sheep husbandry.

Alongside specialist courses for students, the Centre will host farm events and demonstration activities within uplands agriculture and sheep management, to show best practice and encourage professional development.

Low Beckside Farm is home to two flocks, a Swaledale flock of 350 ewes which are hefted to the fell at Mungrisdale, and a draft flock (older ewes from the fell flock) which are kept on land at Low Beckside and Redmire.

Wes Johnson, campus principal, said: "Our vision is that Newton Rigg College will become the UK hub for training and education in uplands land management and sheep husbandry which will not only benefit students but the UK hill farming industry as a whole.

"This new Centre will enable us to demonstrate the best modern hill farming practice with high standards of animal welfare and hygiene and provide the future workforce with key hill farming skills."

Newton Rigg is the only college in England to have its own hill farm and also hosts the National Centre for the Uplands.

It is part of York-based Askham Bryan College, which took over the running of Newton Rigg in 2011. Since then student numbers have increased year on year, particularly across the land-based courses. There are currently 600 students studying agriculture across Askham Bryan's 11 centres in the north of England.

The project has been supported by the Cumbria LEP, through the Skills Funding Agency, and Cumbrian farmers have had input as members of the college's Technical Advisory Group. Support has also been given by the Cumbria Farmer Network, Lake District National Park, NFU, CLA, and Cumbria YFC.

Graham Haywood, director of Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership, said: "Developing our expertise for land management and animal welfare opens up new opportunities for agriculture students to learn new skills, as well as helping to protect our hill farming heritage and contributing to environmental sustainability."

David Lawton, upland hill farmer and technical advisory group member, said: "This is a unique development educationally and it is ideally placed to become a centre of excellence both regionally and nationally. It will I'm sure be warmly welcomed by the farming community both in Cumbria and across the country."