Farm Family Key Skills Training Programme commences

By 31st March 2021, the Farm Family Key Skills (FFKS) scheme will deliver training to 15,500 trainees under the four key topics of Health and Safety, Business Planning, Animal Health and ICT.
By The Newsroom
Published 29th Nov 2016, 08:54 BST
Updated 6th Dec 2016, 12:43 BST
FFKS Health and Safety training workshops up and running from the start of November.FFKS Health and Safety training workshops up and running from the start of November.
FFKS Health and Safety training workshops up and running from the start of November.

These short courses are aimed at farmers, farm family members and employees associated with both the agricultural and horticultural businesses.

Managed by the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), the programme is funded through the Rural Development Programme (RDP) 2014-2020 with support from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

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The first training event under FFKS was on pig health and commenced in April 2016. Technical experts from the pig sector are currently delivering biosecurity workshops, with respiratory/parasitic control workshops planned to follow in January 2017. The aim of the Pig Health Programme is to improve the health status of the pig industry in Northern Ireland.

The FFKS Health and Safety training commenced in November 2016. Topics covered include slurry risks; animal handling; falls, working at height and working with equipment machinery, while exploring other key risk areas, such as the safety of the young and the elderly when on farms. The training will prepare the attendee to undertake a farm Health and Safety review and raise awareness of the ‘Making it Safer’ tool, which will be a key requirement for the Farm Business Improvement Scheme (FBIS).

In 2017 the Farm Business Planning workshops will be launched. These workshops will focus on how to make informed business decisions and the production of a farm business plan. A valuable component of the Business planning will be the option to avail of one to one farm business mentoring. ICT training and further sessions on Animal Health under the FFKS training programme will follow later in 2017.

If you would like more information on how you can enrol on the Farm Family Key Skills (FFKS) programme, please visit the CAFRE webpage at www.cafre.ac.uk and click on Industry support or e-mail [email protected] or call CAFRE Knowledge Transfer Administration on 028 9442 6790.