Upper Sixth Chemistry and Biology student, Sophie Atchison, spent time working at local dairy farm as part of her Work Experience placement this summer.

Her two weeks on the farm based in Warrington provided lots of hands on opportunities. She got to milk, feed and herd cows as well as observing the freeze branding process.

Sophie faced a new challenge each day. These included moving approx 100 cows to the milking parlour! She also found out about the many different aspects of the milking process.

Sophie says “My placement enabled me to gain a better understanding of dairy farming. I researched the importance of grazing, common cow diseases and vaccinations. I was also assigned a research task to design an isolation pen which i really enjoyed.

I am very lucky to have the chance to return to the dairy farm at the end of August. This is to gain experience in calving which is really exciting for me!”

Sophie’s ambition is to become a veterinary surgeon in the future, so this experience has been fantastic.