The Irish Angus Producer Group schools competition, run in conjunction with ABP Ireland and Kepak Group, encourages young second level students to become more involved in agriculture and their families’ farms.

The five winning schools received five six-month-old Irish Angus Cross calves each, which they were to rear through to slaughter to coincide with their Leaving Certificate Agricultural Science project.

The heifers belonging to the Sacred Heart Secondary School Clonakilty were slaughtered this week. The four students involved were Clionadh Condon, Meadbh Sexton, Laura Clancy and Aoife Dullea. Together with their teacher Ms Hennessy, they followed the entire process through from loading right through to carcase stage.

The girls received the calves at six months of age and Clionadh’s father Christy kept the heifers on his farm. They were out-wintered on kale and were put back on grass on 7 Feburary.

Aside from grass, the heifers received 1.3t of kale, 1.3t of grass silage and 250kg of concentrates. In total, they spent 323 of their 411 days with grass as the main part of their diet. The group was happy with the heifers’ performance. They were weighed at regular intervals and the heifers beat each of the Teagasc guideline growth rates.

They were dosed once with closamectin last November when they started on kale and this was the only treatment they received. The girls were surprised that this is all they required. They took dung samples during the summer and the heifers were clear of fluke and worms so they saved on costs.

On going through the factory kill line, they were shown live liver flukes and damaged livers. The size of the flukes came as a big surprise to the girls.

Overall they were very positive on what they said was an invaluable experience. The practical learning of the process will stand to them they said in the short term with their agricultural science exams and will be even more beneficial in their careers.