The Greenmount Campus Estate is a focus for many of the educational activities at the Campus. The Estate provides outstanding natural resources for use by students undertaking a range of agricultural and environmental courses.

The Estate is made up of

• The Farm Development Centre, a 160 hectare mixed lowland farm with 180 dairy cows and replacements. It also has 200 ewes and 30 hectares of arable crops and potatoes.
• The Livestock Development Centre located at the Abbey Farm which is a 90 hectare lowland unit with 50 suckler cows and 200 finishing cattle plus the 1,000 hectare Hill Farm comprising 110 suckler cows and 1,100 ewes.
• The Organic Unit, which is a 36 hectares lowland farm with 25 suckler cows, 75 ewes and 4 hectares of crops.

Learning By Doing Projects

At Greenmount Campus vocational elements are integrated within the courses to allow students to learn by doing whenever possible. The learning by doing concept is based on allowing Higher Education students to take real management and decision-making responsibility for selected enterprises within Campus units and farms. Where possible, students perform all the duties involved in managing an enterprise, in addition to assessing performance and instigating management changes. There are four student learning projects within Greenmount Higher Education programmes.

CREAM

(Co-operative in Real Education and Agricultural Management)

This unique educational system comprises 30 high genetic merit dairy cows managed by HND/Degree students on a daily basis. Currently this herd is one of the top recorded herds in Northern Ireland in terms of genetics and milk yield.

UPLANDS

(Uniting the Production of Livestock and Nature Development for Sustainability)

HND and Degree students have responsibility for the 1,100 ewes and 100 suckler cows on the 1000 hectare Hill Farm which is managed in an environmentally sensitive manner. Students have the opportunity to analyse recent farm physical and financial performance and influence future management and policy decisions.

LIMO

(Leading the Industry to Meat Objectives)

This project aims to develop student competencies in suckler herd management, beef husbandry skills, enterprise policy development and the evaluation of new technologies applicable to beef production. The project comprises purebred and 3/4 bred Limousin cows bred to a Limousin bull and gives students experience of managing pedigree and commercial stock.

Crops

The Farm Development Centre grows approximately 40 hectares of crops each year, mainly cereals and potatoes. The arable area on the farm is used by students to practise many of the arable skills required by industry. Those with a keen interest can become actively involved through student projects.