Apply now for CAFRE’s Level II Agricultural Business Operations Course

The CAFRE Agricultural Business Operations [ABO] Level II Certificate Course is open for 2024/25 applications from 27 May to 31 July.

Marcus Rea from Ballymena, Co Antrim who completed his Level 2 Agriculture Business Operations course in beef production at Greenmount Campus in March 2024 pictured with his certificate.

Course Manager, Kenneth Johnston, explained that the course will be delivered one night per week over 20 weeks from October 2024 to the end of February 2025.  The course will be delivered using a blended approach of online and face to face delivery. He also advised that the course will be available at the three CAFRE Campus locations at Greenmount, Loughry and Enniskillen with classes in beef, sheep and dairying being offered.

Marcus Rea [pictured] from Ballymena, Co Antrim who completed the Beef Production course at Greenmount Campus earlier in the year says: “I really enjoyed the course and learned a lot from it. The course suited me as it was held in the evenings as I work as a professional rugby player with Ulster Rugby. I have always had a keen interest in beef production having grown up on the home farm where we run an Aberdeen Angus Herd as well as 2 poultry houses. I wanted to be involved in agriculture but on leaving school I followed my other passion of playing rugby with Ulster Rugby. I decided to apply for the Level 2 course as I did not have an agricultural qualification and I can truly say it was one of the best decisions that I have made.   

It was great to meet up with other likeminded people and we had a large class of about 30 people all with different backgrounds and reasons to be there.

I wanted to do the course to gain more knowledge, which I certainly did. 

I enjoyed the whole course and gained so much from it. I especially enjoyed the lectures in grassland production which opened my eyes to a whole new area that I hadn’t thought too much about before. I have no hesitation in recommending the course to anyone interested in agriculture and hoping to achieve a worthwhile qualification. The course has given me the confidence to make informed management decisions on the home farm.

You can book a place on a course by visiting the CAFRE website

A range of evenings, Monday to Wednesday will be available, however, choices will become more limited as classes fill up. Therefore, it is important that you book early to ensure you get the training event which best suits your needs.

The cost of the course is £150.00.

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

If you require any assistance when booking a place on this training, you can call CAFRE Industry Training Administration on 028 9442 6880 or by emailing: Industry.TrainingAdmin@daera-ni.gov.uk.

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