EMILY GRABS THE BULL BY THE HORNS
A STUDENT from Mallow’s Davis College has been honoured with a special award for playing her role in a national competition aimed at ‘ beefing up’ the image of Ireland’s agri-industry.
Emily O’Callaghan and her school colleagues Pierce Buckley, Noah Butler and Roisin Scully spent 18 months rearing five Angus Cross calves under the auspices of the Certified Irish Angus Beef Schools Competition.
The annual initiative is aimed at giving participating students the opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge to real-life settings and encouraging them to gain a greater understanding of the care and attention needed to produce and market top quality beef.
Organised by the Irish Angus Producer Group, ABP and Kepak, the competition forms part of each participating students Leaving Certificate Agricultural Science project.
In addition to rearing the calves, each of the five competing schools completed a detailed project focussing on a different aspect of farming and the food chain.
The Davis College team were tasked with analysing the factors that affect the quality of beef, exploring its flavour profile and developing a creative approach to highlighting its versatility and making beef more appealing to children and families.
As part of the process they looked into how a healthy, nutritious family meal could be prepared relatively cheaply using certified Irish Angus Beef. They also set up a blind taste in their school, where they cooked regular beef burgers and Irish Angus burgers - with 80% of students saying the latter tasted better.
In addition to keeping the money they make from selling the calves to processors at the end of the project, around €6,500, each of the teams also received a grant of €2,000 towards their further education.
At an award ceremony marking the culmination of the latest competition, Emily was singled out for special praise by judges and presented with the prestigious ‘Outstanding Achievement By An Individual’ award.
“Emily demonstrated a passion for farming and an outstanding personal commitment to the project and the rearing of animals,” read their citation.