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Maintaining SAC links with First Milk “Academy”

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SAC’s contribution to the First Milk Academy (FMA) has extended even further with former student Jill Bathgate, Arniston Mains, Gorebridge, Midlothian one of the recipients of a special new scholarship.

First Milk are to pay around £1000 per student to cover course fees, learning materials and travel costs for the six FMA workshops. In a partnership agreement SAC staff deliver the FMA courses in Scotland and NW England while Kingshay Farming Trust covers England and Wales. The scheme is overseen and administered by the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester and supported by DairyCo.

Jill Bathgate, who gained an HND in Edinburgh and went on to the HBOM course in Aberdeen, has recently taken on more responsibility for running the 130 Holstein Friesian herd on the family farm. She believes the scholarship will help her develop new ideas. Jill completed the lameness prevention workshop and has already seen improvements in the lameness incidence on farm.

“The courses are well structured and mix theory with practical very well”, she said. “The first thing we learned on the lameness course was the structure of the cow’s foot and then we quickly moved on to foot trimming where our new knowledge could be put to practical use”.  

Other workshops provided by the FMA include Business Management; Feeding the Dairy Cow; Improving Herd Fertility; Good Agricultural and Environmental Practice and Improving Herd Health. The workshops are based on the modular system enabling students to work at their own pace over a four week period. There are individual and group activities to encourage co operation and sharing of experience. Completion of the course leads to a Higher Education Certificate in Dairy Herd Management from the RAC. SAC staff from Ayr, FBS Dumfries and Crichton are involved in the teaching.

“We have access to possibly the top people in Scotland as far as dairying and cow performance is concerned”, said Jill Bathgate. “Having access to that kind of knowledge is a real benefit. I would urge producers everywhere to get involved in the Academy. If you take home just one new piece of information per meeting it can only benefit your business”.

Of the nine scholarship winners Jill is the only Scot from within the First Milk producer base. There are five from Wales and three from England. However attendance at the various workshops has been good with venues at Auchincruive, Stranraer, Dumfries and Penrith. First Milk set up its Academy in 2006 and since then, members representing more than 40% of its milk volume have become involved, attending business clubs (where they share best practice) or taking part in the development workshops. 

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