In conjunction with the Year of Beef we are running a Farm Visit Week 4-8 October where we will encourage as many schools to go on a farm visit as possible. This year the visits will be virtual, but we are hoping that this will become an annual event and in 2022 we will be able to do what we do best get schools back out onto real, working farms.
Schools can sign up to RHET Farm Visit week and visit farms all across Scotland to learn how their food is produced. They will be able to meet Belted Galloway cattle in Dumfries, see berries being harvested in Angus and discover how sheep are shorn. They will even be able to visit a pumpkin farm and learn about preparing livestock for shows.
As always, all the services RHET provide are free, and this year the school won’t even have to find funding for the bus, the pupils will be immersed in the workings of the farms from their classroom thanks to the modern technologies they have become so familiar with during periods of learning from home.
Lesley Mason, RHET Scottish Borders Coordinator said: “We have over 55 farms signed up and our volunteers have rallied to record virtual visits to their farms and produce videos covering a variety of different farming practices.”
Carole Brunton, RHET Fife Coordinator said: “Teachers and pupils will be able to visit farms throughout Scotland. There will be additional beef farm visits, to tie in with RHET’s Year of Beef. It is so important to get young people back thinking about farming and food production, something they have missed out on since the beginning of the pandemic.”
Martin Kennedy, NFUS President said "The Year of Beef campaign is something NFU Scotland is supporting for many reasons. The beef industry is not only the engine room of our rural economy, it also delivers sustainable food production of the highest quality and helps us maintain an environment that is the envy of many across the globe. Please help by backing this campaign and support RHET throughout the coming year”
Teachers can register their interest in Farm Visit Week here https://forms.gle/jcDoWq8drc5kXQGm7