More than 100 primary school children recently gathered for an informative rural skills day hosted by Seafield and Strathspey Estates.
The estate, based near Cullen, has a longstanding connection with the local primary schools and welcomed the entire Fordyce Primary, as well as classes four to seven from Cullen.
Will Anderson of Seafield and Strathspey Estates, said he was delighted to hear from Fordyce Primary’s head teacher who approached the idea to promote rural employment.
“We are always very keen to maintain the link between rural life and schools,” said Mr Anderson.
“It was fantastic to have as many as 102 children on the farm learning all about rural employment. We had seven different stations around the farm which were all well received by the children.
“The event was a great success.”
A number of staff members and local businesses came along to the estate’s Home Farm and offered mini workshops and discussions about their jobs.
The estate’s farm manager Mike Shand, was on hand to discuss the arable enterprise, as well as a tenant who displayed some of his sheep.
Gamekeepers from the estate also discussed deer and wildlife management and Speyside Falconry focused on birds of prey and natural predator control.
James Jones and Sons and CT Harvesting were also present, as well as the Cullen Fire Station and Police Wildlife Crime.
In the past, the estate has worked with the Royal Northern Countryside Initiative (RNCI) which is a self-funded charity based in the north-east.
It covers Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray, working with 247 primary and 36 secondary schools.
The association reaches more than 16,000 pupils every year.