University College Cork (UCC) has been named the winner of the 10th annual Great Agri-Food debate, organised by Dawn Meats and co-sponsored by McDonald’s. The final and semi-final took place on Friday 27 March in South East Technological University (SETU).
The team from UCC secured the win by defeating UCD in what the judges described as a tightly contested and high-quality final. They successfully proposed the motion that “Artificial Intelligence will create opportunities for farms to improve productivity sustainably and must be adopted as a matter of national policy”.
The students on the UCC team include captain Aoife Lynch from Callan, Co Kilkenny, co-speakers Anna Ryan from Glenville, Co Cork, Apoorva Unde from Kilkenny city, Claudine Lynch from Ennis, Co Clare, and researcher Yuelin Zhan, who is from Beijing, China and is studying Food Science and Technology. The four UCC speakers are all fourth-year Nutritional Sciences students at UCC.
Aoife Lynch, captain of the winning UCC team at the Great Agri-Food Debate. /Justin Farrelly.
Speaking about winning the competition, Aoife says, “It is incredible to win, we were so surprised and thrilled. It’s the first time UCC have won the competition, which makes it extra special.
“I’m the only member of the winning team with a farming background, so to see the rest of my team with such knowledge on the topic of agriculture and food is amazing. It shows farming among young people is alive and kicking. The skills we have learned are invaluable and will stick with us for life. Some of the team have never debated before, and the difference in our first debate to the final was incredible.”
Topical issues
The Great Agri-Food Debate provides an opportunity for agriculture students from colleges and universities in Ireland and the UK to compete by debating topical issues relevant to the agri food sector. The competition not only builds students’ public speaking confidence but it also strengthens their communication skills, encourages critical thinking, teaches composure under pressure and fosters self-belief.
Speaking about the importance of the competition over the last 10 years, Richard Clinton, group commercial director at Dawn Meats says, “For the past decade, the Great Agri-Food Debate has proven itself as a consistently relevant and insightful forum for the agri food sector, debating the key issues and challenges the industry faces and providing a forum to hear from the next generation of leaders. The competition has gone from strength to strength, growing in scale, profile and impact.”
Richard Clinton, commercial director, Dawn Meats. /Justin Farrelly.
About the competition
In total, seven teams across Ireland and the UK entered the popular competition.The four universities that progressed to the final were SETU, CAFRE, UCD and UCC.
Susanna Kelly, a fourth-year Food and Agribusiness Management student in UCD from Celbridge, Co Kildare, won the Best Speaker award in the grand final.
The motion debated in the final centred on artificial intelligence, as mentioned, and according to Richard, the topic was chosen because it is becoming a “defining issue” for every industry.
“AI has huge potential to help farmers and companies like ours to optimise informed decision making, but it also raises a range of issues relating to how it should be used, the impact it may have, the risks involved and the governance required.
“Both teams in the final put forward strong and thought-provoking arguments exploring the potential benefits and negatives of the technology and how best to address these,” says Richard.
University College Cork (UCC) has been named the winner of the 10th annual Great Agri-Food debate, organised by Dawn Meats and co-sponsored by McDonald’s. The final and semi-final took place on Friday 27 March in South East Technological University (SETU).
The team from UCC secured the win by defeating UCD in what the judges described as a tightly contested and high-quality final. They successfully proposed the motion that “Artificial Intelligence will create opportunities for farms to improve productivity sustainably and must be adopted as a matter of national policy”.
The students on the UCC team include captain Aoife Lynch from Callan, Co Kilkenny, co-speakers Anna Ryan from Glenville, Co Cork, Apoorva Unde from Kilkenny city, Claudine Lynch from Ennis, Co Clare, and researcher Yuelin Zhan, who is from Beijing, China and is studying Food Science and Technology. The four UCC speakers are all fourth-year Nutritional Sciences students at UCC.
Aoife Lynch, captain of the winning UCC team at the Great Agri-Food Debate. /Justin Farrelly.
Speaking about winning the competition, Aoife says, “It is incredible to win, we were so surprised and thrilled. It’s the first time UCC have won the competition, which makes it extra special.
“I’m the only member of the winning team with a farming background, so to see the rest of my team with such knowledge on the topic of agriculture and food is amazing. It shows farming among young people is alive and kicking. The skills we have learned are invaluable and will stick with us for life. Some of the team have never debated before, and the difference in our first debate to the final was incredible.”
Topical issues
The Great Agri-Food Debate provides an opportunity for agriculture students from colleges and universities in Ireland and the UK to compete by debating topical issues relevant to the agri food sector. The competition not only builds students’ public speaking confidence but it also strengthens their communication skills, encourages critical thinking, teaches composure under pressure and fosters self-belief.
Speaking about the importance of the competition over the last 10 years, Richard Clinton, group commercial director at Dawn Meats says, “For the past decade, the Great Agri-Food Debate has proven itself as a consistently relevant and insightful forum for the agri food sector, debating the key issues and challenges the industry faces and providing a forum to hear from the next generation of leaders. The competition has gone from strength to strength, growing in scale, profile and impact.”
Richard Clinton, commercial director, Dawn Meats. /Justin Farrelly.
About the competition
In total, seven teams across Ireland and the UK entered the popular competition.The four universities that progressed to the final were SETU, CAFRE, UCD and UCC.
Susanna Kelly, a fourth-year Food and Agribusiness Management student in UCD from Celbridge, Co Kildare, won the Best Speaker award in the grand final.
The motion debated in the final centred on artificial intelligence, as mentioned, and according to Richard, the topic was chosen because it is becoming a “defining issue” for every industry.
“AI has huge potential to help farmers and companies like ours to optimise informed decision making, but it also raises a range of issues relating to how it should be used, the impact it may have, the risks involved and the governance required.
“Both teams in the final put forward strong and thought-provoking arguments exploring the potential benefits and negatives of the technology and how best to address these,” says Richard.
SHARING OPTIONS