On a bright, crisp Spring Wednesday morning, a number of our Junior School Eco Council representatives travelled to Watergate Farm in nearby Hockliffe to gain an understanding of the important work farmers do to create sustainable food sources.

Watergate Farm has been in the Hunt family for four generations since 1924 and is run by the parents of 2016-17 BGS Head Girl, Anna Hunt. Anna and her father gave the Eco Council a tour of the farm, providing a valuable insight into daily farm life. The girls spent time visiting the sheep pens where they met the recently born lambs and learnt about the lamb adoption technique. They were also introduced to another recent addition, Kingdom, the Red Poll calf who was being kept nice and warm in a pen as well as Anna’s 10-week old pigs.

After a quick break, the girls went for a walk around the nearby fields to see a herd of pregnant ewes grazing and to hear about the crops currently growing on the farm – rapeseed and wheat. Anna and her father explained how rapeseed and wheat are used in food production, and depending on the grade of wheat, whether it will be milled for flour for human consumption or go into animal feed.

The visit concluded with why it was important to farm sustainably and what the Hunts are doing to preserve and restore wildlife habitats around their farm.

It was a fascinating visit and the Junior School Eco Council have came away with a better understanding of what it is like to be a modern day farmer. Our thanks to Anna and Mr Hunt.