Laois students feature at big farming expo in GAA HQ
Students from three Laois schools have exhibited in Croke Park as part of the Prestigious Certified Irish Angus Schools' Competition.
Cara Donagher, Niamh Kelly, Tara Conroy and Clodiagh Kennedy travelled from Clonaslee College exhibited at the 2023 Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition at Croke Park on Friday, March 31.
They choose the topic of “The Role of Irish Angus in future Beef production”. These students were looking at the dairy herd and how they would create an economically sustainable calf to beef production system for local dairy farmers and beef finishers.
They were also interested in the marketing of Irish Angus beef in foreign markets and looked into the global marketability of Irish Beef and how that can be enhanced by using premium beef like the Angus Breed
Also there were Jill Sheehy, Sinead Slevin and Carol Sheehy from Scoil Chríost Rí, Portlaoise. They looked at the title of “Raising the profile of Angus as a Sustainable Breed”. The girls, who are from farming backgrounds, wanted to investigate the viability of using Angus bulls on the dairy herd to create a more sustainable farming system and provide a more profitable system for beef calves from the dairy herd.
Eve Doyle, Jessica Beere and Hannah Ging were another team from Scoil Chríost Rí to attend. They decided on the title of “Environmental Benefits of a sustainable Grass based System”. The girls are from a mix of farming and non-farming backgrounds are all interested in agriculture. They wanted to highlight the benefits of farmers making farmers aware of the importance of grassland management and grass-based systems as it is a more environmentally and economically sustainable farming model.
The competition, supported by ABP and Kepak, challenges students to rear five Irish Angus calves and learn about the care and attention required to produce quality beef for consumers.
Of the 35 exhibiting schools, five deemed to have best demonstrated an understanding of the project along with innovative ideas will be presented with Irish Angus calves at the National Ploughing Championships in September 2023.
William Delaney from Castletown is the School Competition Coordinator.
"All in all the standard of the projects from all of the schools was extremely high, with a vast array of knowledge displayed by the students in how they would solve some of the issues that are facing Agriculture in Ireland at the moment," he said.
The groups to exhibit at the Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska will be announced in September.