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Assistant farm manager Jack Marlow is part of a small team which runs the college farms livestock and arable systems, while tailoring the calendar around the students’ learning experience.   

Jack is responsible for changing from stabiliser cattle to pedigree Limousins, while they are pushing their Green Gene trait to track the college’s carbon footprint.    

“We have teamed up with the society to recruit the next generation, to establish young breeder initiatives and drive forward the efficiency of the herd,” he says. 

Strongly supporting the curriculum, he runs 17 hours a week tutoring the students around machinery and arable and has received extremely positive feedback via a survey about their teaching experiences. He has worked to improve the arable yields over the past two years through better soil management, appropriate crop rotations and operation timings.   

“I find the lecturing extremely rewarding. It was only meant to be a temporary post, however it had helped me develop personally, which I would like to qualifications for the leadership side. It helps me connect with the students and help provide them what they feel is a valuable student experience,” he adds. 

Jack helps to run a focus group for local farmers to share knowledge and attends multiple continued professional development events, working closely with the Limousin Cattle Society and regenerative specialists. His vision is for the college to become a centre of excellence and he hopes his work will contribute to this.    

“I want fellow farmers to lean on the college for good practice. I studied the college and now work here, I want people to see what a value place this is,” says Jack. 

Facts

• Jack works on-farm as well as lecturing to students
• He is at the forefront of the five-year herd plan to drive forward the beef system
• Jack is responsible for the 283 hectares (700 acres) of arable on the farm
• He welcomes the chance to trial different ideas to benefit the farm and the colleges students.