Cooke & Arkwright
News
Wanted! Farmer with a difference
30/05/06
Coleg Gwent is on the lookout for a farmer with a difference to rent its 132 hectare (326 acre) Rhadyr Farm holding at Usk, Monmouthshire in an unusual and rare opportunity which also involves providing educational activities in co-operation with the college.
Colleg Gwent has instructed agents Cooke & Arkwright to let its principal holding on a ten year Farm Business tenancy during which an enterprising farmer will be able to establish the farm as a ‘centre of excellence’, demonstrating best farming practice to students and the wider farming community. This will include allowing access to college staff and students onto the holding for demonstration purposes, practical work and study, and undertaking trial work with the college.
Rod Perons of Cooke & Arkwright said that the ability and willingness of applicants to deliver this service would be an important factor in considering any bid. He explained that the tenancy is likely to be of interest to dairy farmers who may want to re-locate an existing dairy enterprise or develop a new one at the farm. “There is also plenty of scope for other livestock enterprises and arable production,” he added.
Situated opposite the college’s Usk complex, about one mile west of the historic border town of Usk in Monmouthshire, Rhadyr Farm is a highly productive mixed commercial dairy, arable and livestock farm which in recent years has included enterprises in cereal and potato growing as well as raising lowland ewes and a pedigree Holstein Friesian herd.
The farm is equipped with a first class modern dairy complex built in 2000 and includes a 200 cow cubicle house and a 20-unit, 40-stall swingover parlour. The farmland is generally level or gently undulating with fertile alluvial soils, whilst behind the buildings the land rises to provide free draining pastures; much of the grassland has been reseeded in recent years. Local livestock markets operate at Abergavenny, Ross on Wye and Newport.
Coleg Gwent, which previously managed the farm itself, decided on the change in policy to facilitate new course syllabuses which are designed to concentrate more on animal care and rural activities rather than straight agriculture. It is the largest further education college in Wales and one of the largest in the UK, with more than 32,000 students and campuses at Abergavenny, Crosskeys, Ebbw Vale, Newport and Pontypool, as well as Usk.
“This is a really exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and enterprising tenant to develop their own farming business at Rhadyr Farm, while at the same time working alongside Coleg Gwent in its educational role,” said Mr Perons. “The tenant will have an opportunity to showcase their farming for the benefit of students and to the wider agricultural industry in Monmouthshire. The tenancy will suit a go-ahead farmer who is also interested in working with people.” Download More Details