NEW cattle yards will help bring Gloucester High’s ag facilities into the 21st century, Mik Wisely says.
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Upper Hunter MP George Souris last week announced the school had been succesful in securing funding for the work in the recent State Budget.
The head teacher of TAS (Technical and Applied Sciences) said the cattle yards and shedding were in desperately poor condition and no longer met the school’s needs.
“We’ve got a herd of between 40 and 50 now, including around 15 calves,” Mr Wisely said.
“We haven’t had offspring from our own cattle before, but now we’re starting to work our own cattle and hopefully down the track make a profit.”
Safety will be a key focus of the new facility.
Currently, the yards make it difficult to manoeuvre cattle safely and easily.
A round-yard design with improved drainage is the preference.
“The yards we have now have been patched and repatched time and time again,” Mr Wisely said.
“We’ve had great success at Beef Week and similar events even with our limited resources, so we’re really looking forward to the kids having adequate state-of-the-art facilities.”
The school has about 50 acres of farmland, including 40 acres of river flats, on which it rears cattle and a small number of sheep, goats and chickens.