Duchy College has been awarded over £1.2 million from the Climate Action Fund to run a project tasked with helping the farming community of East Cornwall reach net zero carbon emissions. The National Lottery-backed project, which will run for five years, is called ‘Farm Net Zero’ and will see a number of organisations work alongside the college. Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture have been in the spotlight in…
Farming language; software company solves digital barriers
Digitalisation has changed the way farmers record, curate and receive data. But with business-critical information now online, how easy is it to find what you are looking for? Not very, until now. Software company SimSage has revolutionised the way website search tools can be used by agri-businesses and organisations to better connect farmers with the…
“Titan” of rural education and development retires
After 15 years with Duchy College, we bid a fond farewell to Richard Soffe. During his time as Director of the Rural Business School (RBS) Richard has helped generations of farmers and land managers Richard Soffe, a “titan” of land-based education, research and rural development, is retiring from his college career to lead a team…
Virtual Field Day: Multispecies Leys
Date and Time Thu, 21 May 2020 11:30 – 13:00 This virtual event is part of a 2 part series in a collaboration between Agricology, Duchy College, AgriTech Cornwall, FABulous Farmers, CFE , FWAGSW and Rothamsted Research. Multispecies leys combine complementary grass, legume and herb species. A more diverse sward can provide greater resilience to…
World-renowned rural leadership course hailed huge success
One of the world’s leading rural leadership courses is celebrating the conclusion of another successful year.The Challenge of Rural Leadership course, now in its 24th year, was lauded by delegates and organisers. Managed by the Rural Business School (RBS) at Duchy College, part of The Cornwall College Group, on behalf of the Worshipful Company of Farmers, delegates…
BVD Stamp It Out Project
Duchy College’s Rural Business School (RBS) has helped to sign up just over 2,000 farmers on to the BVD Stamp It Out Project. This is a massive 74% of the overall SW target, with lots more work projected to happen over the winter months. These farmers are spread over 37 different vet practices, with another…
New Soils Project with the Tamar Valley AONB
The Tamar Valley AONB, together with the National Association of Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (NAAONB), has been successful in securing funding to conduct tests and trials to help shape the development of agricultural policy and payments to farmers. The future of the Basic Farm Payment and Agri-environment schemes will be replaced with the Environment…
Farm safety top of agenda for young farmers
In a bid to help tackle the number of accidents that take place on farms, agricultural colleges in the region are continuing to highlight the critical issue among students. The number of fatal accidents on farms is refusing to drop, with 167 people killed in the last five years, according to the Health and Safety…
‘Dairy Farm of the Future’ breaks ground in South West
In a huge boon for the South West’s agriculture sector, Cornwall is set to boast a major research and innovation dairy farm.Future Farm, located at Duchy College Stoke Climsland, will be a first of its type for England with the aim of improving efficiency, welfare and technological advancement in dairy farming. The facility will encourage…
Duchy degree students impress with their farm tenancy applications to the Duchy of Cornwall
Second year students on our FdSc (Hons) Agriculture course have recently completed their interviews with the Duchy of Cornwall’s Land Stewards. The Stewards scrutinised the viability of the farming systems proposed by the students, following the submission of tenancy applications for Carglonnon Farm on the Duchy of Cornwall’s Duloe estate, near Liskeard. Students had the…