Where there's muck there could be brass (From Gazette & Herald)

Where there's muck there could be brass

HELMSLEY student Steven Bowes is in line for a £1,000 bursary -- and if he gets it, he can put it down to the benefits of manure.

Steven, 20, is one of three agriculture students at Beverley's Bishop Burton College who were invited to submit projects for a new Environment Agency bursary launched last year.

The bursary is designed to get students to think about translating the Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food into practical outcomes, as well as understanding the importance of managing the environment in future farming.

Steven, a second-year foundation degree student, submitted his dissertation on how to make the maximum use of the manure waste at his father's farm, High Leys in Helmsley.

He is one of a new generation of young farmers being prepared by Bishop Burton College, which is in its 50th anniversary year, for a more diverse farming future.

Agriculture students are being encouraged to take an entrepreneurial approach to the industry to ensure its survival.

College principal Jeanette Dawson said: "At one and the same time we are providing fundamental agricultural skills to do with land and livestock, but we are also at the cutting edge of the training which will keep us and the industry alive for the next 50 years."

Steven, a former Ryedale School pupil, plans to stay a further year at the college to study for his Honours BSc.

He said he was considering a career in farm management. "On the course we have looked at agriculture as a whole.

"It's tested me but there is a great atmosphere. We look at what it really means to run a farm within and beyond the farm gate -- the business, marketing, machinery, stewardship -- everything that goes towards making it sustainable."

The other two students shortlisted for the bursary are Andrew Walker, 21, from Keighley and Bob Dennis, 55, from Beverley.

If Steven wins the £1,000 bursary award, he plans to use some of it to help fund his course next year.

The winner will be announced at the end of this month.

Updated: 11:17 Wednesday, June 08, 2005