About Our College Farms

Our farms are based in two locations in close proximity to the College campus. Coates Manor Farm and Harnhill Manor Farm total 491 hectares in size (1,200 acres), and offer very different farming system situations. There is also an equine enterprise providing a stabling and livery facility at Fossehill Farm. All the enterprises are run on a commercial basis, and our students benefit through access to their physical and financial data.

In addition, the College has access to dairy facilities at Kemble Farm and Leaze Farm.

The mix of enterprise across our farms consists of sheep, outdoor pigs, horses and arable. These farms provide a field laboratory for students and staff, and are used for farm classes and projects in:

• Practical Animal and Crop Husbandry
• Science into Practice
• Conservation and Farm Woodland Management
• Farm Buildings
• Equine Enterprise Diversification
• Rural Business Management.
• Farm Management

In addition, our farms are a focus for research. Current projects being undertaken include a study on carbon sequestration in the countryside and also an investigation into reduced cultivation and improvements in soil organic matter and fertility by growing a number of alternative crop species. Field and plot trials are also undertaken on our farms by commercial companies on an on-going basis.

Our farms have recently joined the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme and are committed to enhancing the environmental value of their holdings. Research and demonstration projects, often involving outside funding and other external organisations, are a continual part of our farms' business and educational programme.