North Shropshire college is opening new £1m dairy to the public
A college in Shropshire will open its new £1 million dairy to the public to show people how technology has progressed in the agricultural industry.
Bosses say there has been a lot of interest from people in the farming and local community since the dairy opened in July at the Walford Campus of Walford and North Shropshire College.
They have been busy bringing it up to modern standards by creating a milking parlour and space for 100 extra dairy cattle.
The scheme has also included creating a robotic milking machine to increase milking capacity by 50 per cent.
Chris Jones, head of the Walford faculty, said: "There has been a lot of interest from farming specialists and from the local community living in and around Shropshire.
"We feel it is only right that we offer people a chance to view the new facilities and see for themselves how technological advancements have progressed into the agricultural industry.
"We will open the Walford Campus free of charge to anyone who would like to see the new facilities. There will be also a chance to see the equine facilities, animal zoo and engineering workshops.
"There will be a number of specialist companies who are involved in the land-based industry displaying their machinery and equipment, and will be very willing to discuss in detail their new advancements in technology."
The new dairy has been called RD Park Dairy Centre after the college's first principal, the late Don Park who was known to everyone as RD.
It was officially opened by North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson who described it as an "exciting new venture".
Mr Jones added: "Over the last 12 months there has been a great deal of construction and renovation work taking place at the Walford Campus bringing the facilities up to and beyond the 22nd century.
"With increased agricultural applications over the last 10 years it was the right time to re-invest in our agricultural department.
"The dairy unit is just one of the new initiatives that will be used in teaching our students how to maximise profitability now and in the future.
"Students will be able to gain first-hand experience milking cows through a large modern milking parlour gaining a practical understanding of the complexities of milking cows, while at the same time gaining knowledge of technological advancements in the dairy industry."
The dairy will open to the public on September 22, from noon to 5pm.
