Teenagers and their calves (at the Ploughing)

It sounds like ag science teacher Stephanie Flannery is having a serious impact on the students at Our Lady’s in Terenure. This is the first year the south Dublin school has taught ag science and the class is already oversubscribed – so much so that Stephanie is thinking of running two ag science classes next year. Furthermore, at the Ploughing yesterday (Wednesday) Our Lady’s was one of five schools announced as winners in the Certified Irish Angus Beef School Competition 2015, which saw each winning school come away with five Angus X calves that they will raise all the way to slaughter in 18 months.

Miriam O’Callaghan presented the prizes and, suffice it to say, there will be a particularly warm welcome for these calves in Terenure. The Dublin girls have planned a naming ceremony which the whole school will attend and they are getting the local priest to come in to give the calves a blessing.

Stephanie is enthusiastic the whole way through her interview with Irish Country Living – and apparently the students are even more excited than she is.

“It’s definitely an amazing, amazing opportunity for the girls. They are so excited. It’s brought a new dimension to the school. It’s the first time Our Lady’s Terenure has the National Ploughing Championships on the calendar. Cripps Footwear in Terenure has sponsored the wellies you see on the girls, so they’ve certainly come to the Ploughing in style.

“It’s a new tool for learning. It’s so important to know where our food comes from. I think ag science is an amazing subject, it has huge potential to open people’s eyes.”

The calves will be residing on Sean and John Eustace’s farm in Brittas, Co Dublin, who have generously offered to provide a residence for the calves. A friend of the team is sponsoring a year’s supply of feed from Quinn’s of Blatinglass Ltd, Co Wicklow.

Charles Smith, general manager of the Irish Angus Producer Group, explains the motivation for the competition in the first place.

“The reason why we wanted to get involved in a competition like this is because, when I was a child, many farmer’s children got a calf and that kind of led you into farming. We wanted to repeat that – it’s a modern twist on an age-old tradition.

“We had to earn our pocket money. This is not a competition where you just get a cheque. They’re not getting a cheque – realising their prize takes a bit of effort.

“The Terenure girls, for example, probably won’t ever have cattle,” continues Charles. “If we as farmers expect them to pay a decent price for food, we need to show them why. We want to promote an understanding and the best way of getting people to understand is to do it.”

The winning Terenure team is made up of Shauna Jager, Tara Frehill, Eithne Murray and Emily Browne.

Salesian Secondary School,

Pallaskenry, Co Limerick

A team of four, comprised of two city slickers and two farmers’ sons, from Salesian Secondary School in Pallaskenry also came away with five calves yesterday. The school is attached to Pallaskenry Agriculutral College, so there is a big agricultural influence on the school.

It’s interesting to note, however, that 35% of students are from non-farming backgrounds. The strong focus on machinery in Pallaskenry Agricultural College influenced the boys’ project; their theme is centred around farm safety, particularly in the context of machinery as well as cattle.

Their project looked at hazard identification, safe handling of cattle on farms, working conditions (how the farm and facilities influence meat quality), farmer and animal welfare (methods of creating and maintaining a safe and stress-free environment for farmers and farm animals) and waste disposal (ethical consideration involving agricultural waste management and storage).

The Salesion team is comprised of Jamie Fitzgerald, Dean Garvey, Shaun O’Connor and Daniel McSweeney.

Ballymahon Vocational School,

Ballymahon, Co Longford

The lads on the Ballymahon Vocational School team are all from farming backgrounds and are described as fully-fledged farmers by Charles Smith. They are studying ag science for the Leaving Cert in a school that has a strong affiliation with the local agricultural community. They hope to continue their studies of ag science at college.

The theme of their project is Farmer Awareness. They aim to create more awareness about breeding Angus cattle and the benefits of it. They will be drawing attention to Angus’ early maturing, their short gestation, their docility and their hardiness. They will also be monitoring and showcasing the profits to be made from Angus and increasing awareness of Irish Angus Producer Group membership.

The Ballymahon team members are Niall McCormack, Enda Farrell and Tadgh Murtagh.

Presentation Secondary School,

Loughboy, Co Kilkenny

There are two girls on the Presentation Secondary School Loughboy team – Therese Purcell and Celine O’Dwyer – and the theme of their project is Certified Irish Angus Meat Quality. When they made their presentation to the judging panel, they described how they had gone out and purchased cheap frozen burgers and Angus burgers. They weighed them, cooked them, and served them blind to the rest of the class.

There was a 70% preference for the fresh Certified Angus burgers. When the girls weighed the burgers post-cooking they found that the Irish Angus burgers looked more expensive and when cooked they retained 95% of their weight while the cheaper burgers only retained 80% of their weight.

Therese and Celine will also focus on how certified Irish Angus beef can be part of a healthy diet, and compare its benefits to other beef brands. Therese and Celine are both from dairy and beef farms and are considering pursuing a career in the agri sector.

Coláiste Mhuire, Buttevant, Co Cork

Coláiste Mhuire is situated in the north Cork town of Buttevant and has approximately 250 students. A huge cohort of the students come from the countryside, many of whom come from a farming background. They are focusing their research on helping farmers understand what the Certified Irish Angus Bonus is.

A normal bonus is 10c/kg all year round. The off-season bonus (summer/winter) is 20c/kg for two weeks. The bonus for the AA scheme ranges from 25c/kg in times of standard production to 40c/kg in times of off-season production. Finishing farmers must supply more than 50 cattle per year and suckler farmers must supply more than 20 cattle per year to avail of the bonus.

The students are attending discussion groups and different farmer events to make farmers aware that Angus cattle have substantial potential value and to encourage farmers to realise as much of that as they can.

“We gear bonuses to encourage more production at certain times of the year,” explains Charles Smith,“for example, Christmas and BBQ season when it’s too late for shed cattle and too early for grass cattle.

“This makes the cost of production higher for the farmer so he gets rewarded for his effort. And we want these youngsters to get this message out there.

“The farmer benefits, the processor and supermarket benefits and the end-consumer benefits as there’s high-quality beef available when it’s wanted.”

Projects

The students will keep the calves they received yesterday until they are ready for slaughter in 18 months. They will also submit the projects about their themes before Christmas of next year to be in with a chance to win a further €2,000 in cash.

If you’re considering entering the competition next year, it would be good idea to call into the Irish Angus Producer Group stand at the Ploughing and talk to this year’s and last year’s winners.

You’ll find the stand in block 4 – it’s number 132. CL