Young Farmers from the North-east of Scotland and from as far north as Caithness, braved the rain last Saturday to attend an 'Innovation Day' organised by Harbro to educate the farmers of the future on the latest innovations in livestock nutrition.

The split venue event started off at AT Wilson and Co, Auchnagatt, near Ellon, where Michael Wilson and his family farm more than 2000 acres and fatten store cattle for Morrisons. They have been pioneers for Harbro's on-farm trials for the last decade, with innovation and a data driven approach at the core of their enterprise.

Along with his father, Thompson, wife Carol and his young family, Michael gave the visitors an informative tour of the farm, openly discussing his cattle management strategy before conducting a lively stock judging competition.

The group then headed to Harbro’s mill, in Mintlaw, where they rotated around a series of workstations learning about innovations in nutrition across the species, trials conducted by the R and D department, and the fleet of mobile mill and mixing machines. The youngsters were even challenged to a feed analysis competition, guessing the nutritional composition of a range of raw materials.

Most attendance was from Bower, who were presented with a prize for the 16 folk make the long journey down for the day. The day concluded with a BBQ before everyone headed for the road with their goodie bags and a head full of knowledge.