TRIO TAKE CHARGE OF THEIR OWN MINI HERD OF CALVES AS PART OF SCHOOLS’ COMPETITION
AN enterprising trio of pupils from Boherbue Comprehensive School are set to ‘ beef up’ their CVs after taking charge of their own mini-herd of Irish Angus calves under the auspices of a prestigious national competition.
The team of Amy Walsh, David Kenny and Rachel Breen are among five teams to be selected as finalists in the 2020 Certified Irish Angus Schools competition.
Hundreds of teams from schools across the country vying to take part in the competition were tasked with putting together a detailed project on an aspect of the farming and food chain.
The Boherbue team project, which explored the docility of the Irish Angus breed, impressed the panel of agri-food industry professionals, who selected them to participate in this year’s competition.
In September the five winning teams will take charge of five Irish Angus calves, which they will rear for 18 months before the animals are sent to slaughter.
In addition, each team will complete a research project linked to the senior-cycle Agricultural Science curriculum, which focuses on a particular aspect of farming and beef production.
The individual project themes, which will focus on issues such as mental health and well-being among farmers; the viability of Dairy Cross Angus beef production; the importance of Irish agriculture; and the role of production planning, will be announced when the groups receive their calves.
In addition to keeping the money they make from selling the calves to processors at the end of the project, each of the teams will also receive a grant of €2,000 toward the cost of their further education.
The competition is aimed at giving participating students the opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge to real-life settings and encouraging second-level students to gain a greater understanding of the care and attention needed to produce and market top-quality beef.
The practical experience they gain through participating in the initiative will also be of substantial benefit to the students in their agricultural science and business studies and could play a pivotal role in their third-level choices.
Boherbue Comprehensive teacher Lorraine Heelan said the team underwent an exhaustive selection process to reach the final five.
“Over the past six months they went through the video entry round, an interview and the semi-final at Croke against 35 other teams. Along the way they impressed judges with their excellent communications skills, enthusiasm and work ethic,” said Lorraine.
The team also promoted the Irish Angus brand and breed to fellow students through events such as their ‘Beef Masterchef ’ competition and the wider community by visiting national schools, farms and marts to spread their message.
The team also launched a social media campaign #rebelangus and halter-trained a rare red Angus calf and compared the progress of this to a Hereford calf.
“They have got on great so far and have their eyes on the big prize in twoyears’ time,” said Lorraine.
All three members of the Boherbue team come from agricultural backgrounds, something that inspired them to enter the competition in the first place.
“We all have a love for farming and animals, and because we all come from a farming background, we all knew what we were talking about,” said David.
Amy said the trio have put a huge amount of work into the competition and thoroughly enjoyed promoting
Angus to farms and consumers.
“I also gained a lot of confidence as we had to go up and speak to mart managers, interviewees and the general public. It means the world to get where we are today. We are really excited and can’t wait to get back promoting Angus,” she said.
Rachel said they learn a huge among through visiting marts and local farms, giving them a greater understanding of the “vitally important” role farming plays in local communities.
“The competition has taken over a lot of school and personal time, but the outcome, five calves of our own to rear, is definitely worth it,” she said.