It had been five weeks since we graced the hallowed turf of Ballyhaise for the latest instalment of the Level 6 Distance Learning in Education course, aka, the Green Cert.

The way the system usually works is that on one day the tutors teach you how to do a certain set of skills then you come back a month later and are assessed on those skills.

Last Friday, we had to inject for blackleg, administer pour on and dose an animal – all useful skills - while being graded.

We also had to guesstimate the weight of five beef animals and judge what each of their confirmation and fat scores were before working out the factory and mart prices of the animals. I hadn't improved greatly on my guessing of weights from the last class!

Our group is made up of part-time farmers with varying degrees of exposure to farms. The students are made up of a few engineers, a masters student, a nurse and others.

As we were working the price of an animal in the factory, one of the lads from Monaghan awoke from his concentration and said: “Surely, it’d make more sense to make cuts to the base price using a percentage rather than cent per kilo cut... it’d be more representative of the farmer’s own cattle” and not generic as he went on to explain.

Nobody, on the face of it, could disagree with his theory.

Now, the issue with that is what would be the percentage cut you would make?

Also, all the research carried out in Grange has shown that the current metrics of the Quality Payment System, or QPS, are most reflective of the differential that exists between carcases of variable conformation and fat. The 6c/kg differential between the base price (R-/=) and higher or lower conformation aims to pay a fair price based on expected meat yield. The differences in fat cover reflect what the market optimally requires.

Green Cert students were long derided for not having the greatest work ethic or commitment to farming but there are smart people out there who are willing to think differently and that’s no bad thing. The future is safe, assuming we actually pass!

We’re back in three weeks to make a nutrient management plan among other things.

Yours in education...