A three-year programme of support for the Charolais Youth Programme from livestock nutrition specialists Harbro has been announced by the British Charolais Cattle Society.
The feed firm has announced a partnership with the breed society to provide a rolling programme of education, hands-on training and mentoring for aspiring young beef breeders.
It will initially focus on the crucial part nutrition plays in the breeding and raising of Charolais cattle before branching into further important areas.
The society’s Youth Programme is an initiative open to anyone aged from 8 to 28 who is either already involved with the breed or would like to find out more.
In person and virtual workshops and seminars are held throughout the year across the country, aiming to provide a training and education programme on anything to do with Charolais cattle, both pedigree and commercial.
Topics include cattle selection and preparation for shows and sales, herd health and genetic evaluation, and now Harbro are adding a major new dimension of expertise in the complex and crucial science of nutrition.
Over the three years of partnership with the society, Harbro will provide a wide-ranging package of support focussed on nutrition including learning resources & literature, on-farm training workshops & seminars and seasonal mailouts & social media networking.
Jill Hunter, Harbro’s beef and sheep nutritionist Jill Hunter, believes education is the ideal way for the company to support the industry.
“This is a first partnership of its kind for us with a breed society and it’s very exciting to be working with the Charolais society.
“The BCCS has always been innovative and progressive in improving the pedigree and commercial quality of the breed, and nothing could be more important in this respect than educating and inspiring future Charolais breeders.
“The programme is designed to give them opportunities to learn from experts and from each other. We want to create a knowledge base they can refer back to at any time, and we’ll develop a social media community that will help bring this learning journey to life.
“It’s very tough for young people trying to get a start in agriculture today, and we hope that our involvement in the Charolais Youth Programme will give some future farming stars a step up on their way.”
More information at www.charolais.co.uk