Once we arrived we were greeted by Mike who showed us some of the key parts of the farm, including the shed, effluent pond, feed pad and standoff pad. We heard about how waste water goes into the effluent pond to be spread back onto the farm. This makes use of the nutrients for growing grass, and avoids it leaching into the nearby waterways. Additionally we reflected on the impacts that both agricultural and urban industries have on the quality of our water-ways and discussed the practices that farmers use to mitigate any damage on their environment. Next we used some maths to figure out how big the stand-off pad is and how much space there is for each cow when they are there. Lastly we talked about how to calculate the radius of a round yard if you want to fit a certain number of cows on it during milking time.

The trip was a great opportunity to do some learning outside of the classroom and was thoroughly enjoyed by both staff and students. Many thanks to the White’s for hosting us.