£2.3m dairy unit opened

A new £2.3 million dairy unit was officially opened today in Shropshire at one of the country's top agricultural colleges.

Harper Adams University College at Edgmond, near Newport,

held an open day to mark the unveiling of its state-of-the-art new unit

for its expanding herd.

Harper Adams recently doubled the size of its cow herd

from 200 to 400 and college spokeswoman Jaclyn Green said it was

eventually hoped to increase the number further to 600.

She added: "The new unit is a big, 400-point rotary

milking parlour which the cows are able to go on and off with the

minimum of human help.

"We also have two different accommodation blocks which

can each house 200 cows for research purposes, such as food studies and

there is an innovative slurry management system."

Newly-appointed college principal Dr David Llewellyn, who

took over at the helm yesterday, was on hand to meet visitors during

the day and he was accompanied by his predecessor, Prof Wynne Jones,

who is staying on at the college until the end of the month to ensure a

smooth handover.

The new dairy unit was officially opened by Tim Bennett, chairman of DairyCo and former president of the NFU.

Guided tours of the unit took place throughout the day and there were also presentations on a variety of topics.