Host Farm Placements proving valuable to Kildalton College students
Placement is a win-win for both the student and farmer, writes Declan Byrne, College Teacher/Placement Officer, Teagasc Kildalton College, who shares how it’s shaping students for their future careers.
Teagasc Kildalton College, situated in Piltown Co. Kilkenny, is the largest agricultural college in the Republic of Ireland and has delivered full-time agricultural education courses to young farmers since the early nineteen seventies.
Today over 1,300 students per year are educated at Teagasc Kildalton College, studying Level 5, 6, 7 and 8 full-time, distance and part-time education courses, specialising in agriculture, horticulture and equine. Level 5 and 6 courses are offered directly by Teagasc Kildalton College through QQI, while Level 7 and 8 courses are co-delivered in partnership with SETU Waterford.
The Advanced Certificate in Agriculture
Teagasc Kildalton College currently has 229 students - 120 first years, 109 second years - completing the two year full-time Advanced Certificate in Agriculture (Green Cert) course.
A key mandatory requirement of this course for all students under 23 is the completion of two on-farm placement periods of eight weeks (first year) and 16 weeks (second year), where the student will be based on an approved host farm.
Michael Murphy (left) pictured with host farmer Liam Roche
During placement, he/she will develop their knowledge and skillset in a new farm environment, under the supervision of an experienced farmer who demonstrates best practice and nurtures student learning and development.
For the initial eight week placement in the first year of the course, students are placed on farms that reflect their general interest in either dairy, beef, sheep or tillage.
In second year, the Advanced Certificate Course allows the student to specialise in either drystock, dairy or tillage. Therefore placement will be completed on a farm specifically focused towards their enterprise of choice. Along with gaining hands-on experience, students are paid €244 per 35 hour week during placement.
A win-win
Placement is a win-win for both the student and farmer, as the student gains valuable experience, while the farmer has extra help on the farm during the busiest period of the year.
All first year placements are completed on farms in Ireland. Second year students have the option of completing placement on registered host farms in Ireland or can opt to travel to an approved farm overseas. While the majority of students will complete their placements here, 22 second year students from the class of 2024/2025 are currently completing placements on dairy and tillage farms in New Zealand, Scotland, England and America.
Student Profile
Micheal Murphy, aged 20, is from Castleisland, Co. Kerry and began his full-time Level 5 Certificate in Agriculture at Teagasc Kildalton College in September 2023.
Although not raised a farm, Micheal spent his teenage years working for local farmers and is keen to pursue a career in agriculture. For his first year placement, Micheal requested to stay close to home, so he was placed on the farm of Patrick Harrington, who milks 120 cows near Causeway in Co. Kerry. Micheal really enjoyed his placement there and got to experience all aspects of dairy farming over the eight weeks - from feeding, milking, and calf rearing to spreading fertiliser and slurry, all during a very challenging spring of 2024 in North Kerry.
For his second year 16 week placement, Micheal first considered travelling overseas, but ultimately decided against it. Instead Micheal asked to be placed away from home, on a dairy farm where he could experience large-scale dairying and work alongside other people as part of a team.
Micheal’s placement commenced on January 13th this year on the 390-cow dairy farm of Liam Roche in Michelstown Co. Cork. Micheal is really thriving on placement there and has relished the challenges of working on a large herd, with 200 cows calved over the past three weeks. Additionally, Micheal is working on farm with four other people. Amongst his daily tasks are selecting cows for moving to calving pens, calf care, milking and grass measuring.
Liam Roche has hosted students from Teagasc Kildalton College for many years. Liam is delighted with Micheal’s progress so far and plans to take Micheal on local discussion group meetings and dairy events to give him the opportunity to learn and develop both on and off farm during placement.
Micheal is staying with Liam’s mother Assumpta during placement, where he and two other young people who work locally are enjoying Assumpta’s warm hospitality. This placement will certainly be of great benefit to Micheal’s educational and personal development.
More information
For general course enquiries, please phone 051-644400. If you have specific questions or general enquiries on placements please contact Declan Bynre via email at: declan.byrne@teagasc.ie.
Find out more about Kildalton College here.
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