The school competition that challenges students to rear five Irish Angus calves over 18 months

This week’s Beef Edge podcast finds out about the Certified Irish Angus Schools competition that challenges students to rear five Irish Angus calves over 18 months while completing a research project, and which is organised in partnership with ABP Ireland and Kepak Group.

Catherine Egan is joined by Darragh Barlow, a student at the Abbey School Tipperary town which is one of the five finalist schools, his Ag Science teacher Michael O’Dwyer, and William Delaney from the Certified Irish Angus Producer Group.

Darragh describes their journey to date and how the calves have been managed and how they have performed.  Darragh highlights how the Angus breed suits a sustainable farming system and he says that there are numerous advantages to being a finalist in the competition, encouraging other students to participate.

Agricultural Science teacher Michael O’Dwyer outlines the benefits of the competition as a teacher and says that the extent of the competition has gone far beyond just the actual students in the competition and has been a great experience for the entire school.

William Delaney, organiser of the competition encourages other schools to get involved and highlights the steps are required to get into the competition.

The next competition will be launched in September with further details available here: https://www.certifiedirishangus.ie/certified-irish-angus-schools-competition/ 

For information on the Abbey school recipe book and abbey angus sires check out these PDFs. Angus meat recipies abbey angus sires

For more episodes and information covered on the Beef Edge, visit the show page at: www.teagasc.ie/thebeefedge