To their credit students have been responsible for the daily operation and management of the CREAM herd since its establishment in 1994.

Whereas first year students have carried out the daily operations of the unit they have been guided and supervised by second and third year students and farm staff.

Throughout the years students have chosen to work as part of four management teams. After two years all students will have been involved within each team, achieving a width of experience. These teams have had responsibility for the following:

Milking and Health

Managing student rotas and monitoring herd health status.

Stewart Gallick prepares for a cow for the dry period

Breeding

Involvement in genetic evaluation of current stock and selection of sires for flushing and AI.

John Harbinson, Caryn Smyth and Steven Graham selecting bulls for use with the CREAM herd

Feeding

Recording and evaluating feeding information used in ration formulation to maintain herd performance.

Jason Booth and William Ryan assess the progress of the replacement heifers

Finance and Promotion

Recording and analysing physical and financial information for the herd and benchmarking this against targets. The herd also has been well promoted through press articles.

Diane Moffet, Sandra Hayes and Elaine Vance collating CREAM herd management figures

The main objectives of CREAM are to allow students to:

Develop group communication and interpersonal skills

Operate a profitable and efficient milk production system

Record and analyse physical and financial information for the enterprise

Gain management experience and develop practical skills