Students return from New Zealand study trip
Thirty-three of our final year agricultural students have recently come back from a three-week study programme to New Zealand, writes Chris Jones, Head of Faculty at Walford and North Shropshire College.
This is the ninth year we have organised this exchange programme with our students spending most of April at Taratahi College which is situated on the North Island, some two hours' drive from the capital city of Wellington. The New Zealand students will be returning to us at the end of June for their three weeks' experience.
The aim of this exchange is to introduce students to an alternative agricultural environment and enable them to develop skills in areas where the host college has a recognised skill advantage, in addition to promoting an ongoing understanding between the two colleges via social and cultural opportunities.
The benefits that both British and New Zealand students gain in regards to developing their individual personal and development skills is fantastic and also broadens their experiences in agriculture.
Our British students gain experiences of the New Zealand farming systems, which have been developed over many years to farm without subsidies and to provide quality food at competitive prices.
Taratahi College runs a number of farming businesses, which are mainly to do with dairy, beef, sheep and venison enterprises. As you can imagine, these businesses, or units as the New Zealanders call them, are not small, with two dairy units of 600-plus cows and sheep units running flocks of 8,000 ewes. Our students are split up into small practical groups with each group gaining first-hand experience with dairy, sheep and beef, fencing, chainsaws, butchering, motorbike and all-terrain vehicle driving.
The programme also includes many visits to local farm and ancillary businesses and metings with representatives from local/national government offices, farming and environmental associations. The visit to Rotorua gave our students experiences to national sites of interest which widen their minds to the social and cultural differences.
I also must thank the trustees of the R D Park charity trust for supporting this marvellous opportunity for our young farmers in contributing £5,000 per year. The students' comments ranged from "out of this world" to "fantastic" and they will never forget it, that's for sure.
The exchange is well established now and students always thoroughly enjoy the experience.
If this trip appeals to you and you are interested in studying agriculture or any other subject at Walford and North Shropshire College please contact the college.
