Oatridge beef unit given a clean start

A £400,000 beef unit is set to be opened on the Oatridge College farm in West Lothian on Friday.

The 3500-square metre buildings, which house the 300 cattle from the college’s Aberdeen Angus and Simmental herds, were completed earlier this year to provide agricultural students with facilities as good, or better, than they will encounter on the most modern farms.

Nigel Miller, president of the National Union of Farmers in Scotland, will perform the official opening.

The college received a 40 per cent grant from the Scottish Regional Development Programme to construct the unit.

Farm director Peter Scott said: “We have installed a whole new beef handling and loading system. The buildings have scraping passages which are mucked directly into a spreader then applied to a sacrifice area on the farm.

“That means we do not have muck heaps near the farm steading, so as far as biosecurity goes, we’ve looked at that as well.”