A sneak peak at the 2020 BT Young Scientist agricultural projects

Of particular interest at this year’s BT Young Scientist Exhibition is the large number of projects that are agriculturally themed.

They come from rural areas in all four corners of the country and range in topic from the future of beef farming to solving farming safety concerns through the use of technology.

The list below is some of the agricultural projects that caught the eye of Irish Country Living. The exhibition will take place from 8 to 11 January 2020 at the RDS in Dublin. There are over 200 prizes for individuals, groups, and teachers. In addition, the overall winner will represent Ireland at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists in Salamanca, Spain, in September 2020.

Tickets can be purchased here.

2019 Teagasc Special Award winner - one year on

Last year, Charlie Drumm from Coláiste Mhuire in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, brought his Freshgraze invention to the BT Young Scientist and Technology exhibition. His project won the Teagasc Special Award winner and second place in the Technology Senior Individual category.

Freshgraze is an automated moving fence that allocates fresh grass to grazing animals using two robots at either end of the field. The robots are controlled by a cloud-based user interface and run along high-tensile wire.

Freshgraze is not yet on the market, Charlie is a busy Leaving Certificate student and keen football player. But he took part in a business bootcamp at UCD Nova last summer. His brother James is studying engineering at UCD and is also involved in Freshgraze.

Speaking about his experience at the Young Scientist Exhibition Charlie told Irish Country Living that “it is really interesting to see how many agricultural projects were there.

“A lot of people that go around (the exhibition) understand farming. You also see the general public opinion on how food is produced”.

A lot of Charlie’s project had been developed over the two or three years leading up to the 2019 Young Scientist exhibition, the experience gave him the confidence to develop the product further.

“The judges give you tips on how to make it better. I would say to this year’s exhibitors that they should enjoy it, talk to everybody about your project and know it inside out,” said Charlie.