A NEW partnership between Scotland’s Rural College and the James Hutton Institute hopes to put practical skills into the hands of future farmers by giving them access to the Glensaugh Research Farm in Aberdeenshire

Students studying agriculture at national certificate and degree level at SRUC’s Aberdeen campus will now complete practical classes at Glensaugh, where they will be working with sheep, beef cattle and deer in a semi-upland setting. Gaining experience in machinery and stock handling, the classes will help them apply their knowledge in a real-world context.

The collaboration is the latest partnership between the two major research institutes. SRUC and the James Hutton Institute already work together on research, events and providing PhD opportunities.

SRUC’s North Faculty currently teaches around 100 agricultural students across its national certificate and degree level courses. SRUC also offers Masters level courses and promotes routes for students to progress through different levels of qualifications.

SRUC’s North Faculty agriculture team leader Philip Wrigglesworth said: “This new partnership between SRUC and the James Hutton Institute will enhance our teaching of practical farming skills. This will help students into employment and throughout their careers.

“We are grateful to the James Hutton Institute for the opportunity to work together. We share a common goal of putting research and theory into practice to benefit future food production and animal welfare.”

Director of Science at the JHI, Professor Deb Roberts, said: “Glensaugh Research Farm has long been used to test new products and demonstrate innovative land management practices. The fact that the farm is now also being used for educational purposes, to help train the next generation of farmers, is fantastic and evidence of the real benefits of collaboration across the Scottish Environment, Food and Agriculture Institutes.”