Students impress in farm-related competition

Four students from the Ursuline Secondary School, Thurles, were commended for reaching the final at the annual Certified Irish Angus Schools competition held in Croke park. The students Gráinne O’Donnell, Karen Campion, Louise Creagh, and Louise Hickey attended the prestigious grand final in the Hogan Suite after successfully completing their project and rearing five Angus calves for 18 months.

The Certified Irish Angus Schools’ Competition in association with ABP and Kepak is an initiative that challenges students to rear five Irish Angus Cross calves for 18 months until their slaughter which aids their Leaving Certificate Agricultural Science curriculum. It aims to promote the Certified Irish Angus Beef brand while communicating the care and attention required to produce quality beef for consumers.

The Thurles students investigated “The Health Benefits of Eating Angus Beef.” The group focused their research on the value of beef in the diet and raise public awareness of its health benefits. Their study found that there was a lack of awareness about the importance of red meat in the diet among teenage girls. Research has shown that this demographic can be susceptible to iron deficiencies such as anaemia. The girls focused on raising awareness about the dietary benefits of red meat to teenage girls by setting up information stalls at events such as the Tipperary Camogie County Final.

Competition growth

The Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition is setting up for its tenth and biggest year yet. In 2022, over 170 groups, nearing 600 students took part in the competition with 23 counties represented from all provinces.

Currently, farming industry experts are judging this year’s 42 shortlisted projects and will select five finalists from their biggest pool of shortlisted projects ever. The judges include representatives from right across the agri-food industry ABP, Kepak, Tesco, Hilton Foods, Teagasc, Bord Bia, Agri aware, IASTA, Certified Irish Angus Producer Group, NPA, JM Foods, Irish Farmers Journal, ICBF, The Glasshouse Hotel Sligo, and previous competition winners.

The five schools that best demonstrate an understanding of the project along with innovative ideas will be announced in September and will receive their calves at the National Ploughing Championships in September 2023. Each of the finalists receives the financial benefit involved in the selling of the animals to the processors on completion of the project which amounted to an average €7,500. The winning students also receive an additional grant of €2,000 for their further education.

For further information on the projects visit  www.certifiedirishangus.ie/certified-irish-angus-schools-competition/