Northern Ireland’s College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) has announced plans to open applications for the next round of its part-time Level 2 courses.

The Agri-Business Operations Level 2 Certificate courses will open for 2020-2021 applications from June 1.

Programme manager, Kenneth Johnston, said: “Of the 125 students who enrolled on the course in 2019-20, 122 successfully completed the course.

“Training was delivered over a 20-week period from October 2019 to the end of February 2020 at the three CAFRE Campus locations at Greenmount, Loughry and Enniskillen.

A total of six classes covering beef, sheep and dairying encompass the course. This year’s course will be delivered over the same time period and classes again will be offered at all three CAFRE locations.

“97% of those who finished the course said they were satisfied with the course and felt they had gained knowledge from their participation and would recommend the course to others. They also felt the course will be of benefit to them when running their farm business.”

William Dennison from Antrim who successfully completed the course along with his son and brother said: “I really enjoyed the course and learned a lot and it suited me that it was held in the evenings.

“I would thoroughly recommend the course to anyone interested in agriculture and thinking of applying for the Young Farmers’ Payment / Regional Reserve Scheme.”

A range of study evenings, Monday to Wednesday will be available, however, choices will become more limited as classes fill up.

Those interested are advised to book early to ensure access to the class which best suits their needs.

The CAFRE Agricultural Business Operations (Level 2 Certificate) qualification meets the agricultural training eligibility requirements for the Young Farmers’ Payment / Regional Reserve Scheme.

The course costs £150.