Kilbeggan students selected to rear Irish Angus calves

Mercy Secondary School, Kilbeggan was named last Thursday as one of five finalists in this year’s Certified Irish Angus schools competition.

The announcement was made at a special event at the final day of the National Ploughing Championships by TikTok influencer and RTÉ broadcaster Mary-Claire Fitzpatrick.

The Kilbeggan students are Sinéad Bracken, Mary Ellen Colton, Chloe McDermott and Trása Bracken and they, along with students from schools in Meath, Dublin, Cork and Tipperary and Westmeath, met the Irish Angus-Cross calves they will rear for the first time at the event.

The Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition, run by Certified Irish Angus and its processor partners, ABP and Kepak, aims to encourage second level students to gain an understanding about the considerable care and attention that is required to produce and market the highest quality beef for consumers.

After the ploughing, the students took the calves home to rear them for 18 months.

The five schools were narrowed down from 140 entries after a competitive, multi-stage interview process earlier this year. In addition to rearing the calves, the schools will complete a project focusing on a different aspect of farming, the food chain and sustainability.

The Mercy Secondary School students have been allocated the theme of ‘Exploring the opportunities of low carbon beef’. They will demonstrate how Irish farmers can produce the most sustainable beef by following the Certified Irish Angus five-point plan while also educating consumers and farmers about carbon sequestration on farms.

The Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition aims to allow students to apply the knowledge they learn in the classroom to a real-life setting. Each of the finalists will receive the financial benefit involved in the selling of the animals to the processors on completion of the project. The winning students also receive an additional grant of €2,000 for their further education.