ment may be limited, discussions of requirements are very welcome.

It will thus be seen that the departments are far from being ‘ivory towers’ of detached learn- ing. Indeed they depend to a very great extent on liaison with industry for progress in their teaching and research. Contact with industry and discus- sion of its problems are essential parts of tech- nological education.

CONCLUSION The students of food science and technology being trained at the existing University Departments fill many of the requirements of the food industry. Some of these - a small proportion - find their niche in the dairy industry, and at the moment the students do not appear to have undue diffi- culty in obtaining employment.

However, it must be queried whether the dairy industry is obtaining sufficient students to meet the needs it will have in 5 or 10 years time. Some authorities go so far as to say that graduates are not really required for production management or for quality appraisal and control. What is per- haps forgotten is that at present there still remain some people in the industry who have been in it all their working lives and have ‘grown up’ with the ever increasing size and complexity of cream- eries and company organization. In their way they came to understand it and to cope with it.

New entrants must at least have something of a similar exposure before they can be really use- ful. They must also have full motivation and

interest in the job, and have to realize that in many cases they may be situated far from a large town.

To help in most of these aspects adequate liaison between department and industry is essential (as has already been pointed out for higher degree re- search work). In particular one major problem looms very large -where are the teachers, at an adequate level, of dairy science and technology to come from in the not too distant future? Here again industry can help. Some assistance can be given with teaching of special aspects Ifiuch as cheesemaking, on short courses, but soon there will be a shortage of good cheesemakers too. In any case it is essential that there should be an adequate foundation of fundamental scientific knowledge and of knowledge of the dairy industry to build on and this can be obtained via a degree course in food science and technology, coupled with sandwich vacation experience in the industry - but further training in the details of operation of, say, any one particular creamery or dairy company will be required in the industry itself.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author wishes to acknowledge with thanks considerable help from Professor H. Nursten in the preparation of this paper.

REFERENCE Crossley, E. L. (1957) Journal of rhe British Dairy

Farmers’ Association, 61, 53 .

Somerset College of Agriculture and Horticulture Milk Production Technology Course As stated in the January issue, the next academic year heralds the start of a new much needed course in the Technology of Milk Production at the Somerset College of Agriculture. New, be- cause it will be the first course in this subject to be held at an English College at the post-OND level. Much needed, it is felt, to fill the edu- cational gap at the ‘agricultural end’ of the dairy industry - a gap created both by the disappearance of the NDD and the lack of specialism in the ensuing OND and the HND courses. The econ- omic pressures to compete, not only with in- flated costs but also with more stringent standards of quality, have more than ever made the pro- duction of milk a specialist job. This basic econ- omic fact, together with perhaps the widest and most rapidly changing technology of a n j agri-

cultural enterprise, highlights the need for specialist education. Such facts merited approval for the 12 week course to commence in September 1979.

In a general course, basic information may be presented, but the shortage of time and magna- nimity of subjects preclude a study in depth of milk production. The new course aims to build on the students’ general knowledge, by developing specific areas and the involvement in related projects, tutorials, practical exercises, etc. It is designed for potential herd managers, advisory and field officers and technical representatives and it is hoped that individuals will help the present national publicity so that a course ‘quorum’ is obtained in September.

G.J.L.

108 Journal of the Society of Dairy Technology, Vol. 32, No. 2 , April, 1979