Kilbeggan students look to ‘sustainable future’

By Shane King

Four students from Mercy Secondary School Kilbeggan are finalists in this year’s Certified Irish Angus schools competition and are making their mark on the agriculture industry in their promotion of sustainable farming.

The group are twin sisters Trása and Sinéad Bracken, Chloe McDermott and Mary Ellen Colton. They are all entering sixth year this school term.

The competition challenges students to rear five Irish Angus calves over 18 months while completing a research project. The initiative aims to promote the Certified Irish Angus brand while educating students about the care and attention required to produce quality beef for consumers.

The girls were one of five groups that were awarded calves at last year’s National Ploughing Championships in Laois following an extensive application process.

Chloe explained to the Westmeath Examiner how the competition works and the initial rounds that they progressed through to get to the final stage.

“The first round was when we made a video on Trása and Sinéad’s farm, where we outlined our project ideas. In the second round, we went to the Mullingar Park Hotel to be interviewed by the judges. We got on really well at that stage and we were very lucky to be one of the groups that were invited to go to the exhibition in Croke Park.

“At that event, we had to set up a stand and talk to a number of judges about our theme, which is sustainability, and we were interviewed by agri-industry experts.

“At the end of our TY year, the three main judges called out to the school to tell us we were one of the winners of the five calves, which was a really great surprise. I don’t think the girls and I imagined getting that far when we first entered.” Chloe said.

Trása spoke about their brilliant experience at the ploughing last year, saying they met with so many people including the 2022 Rose of Tralee Rachel Duffy and other well-known people.

“We were there for three days last September, and that is where we finally got to meet our calves, and we also met with the other four finalists who also received five Irish Angus calves. We had the best three days at the event.

“On the last day of the ploughing, my father collected the calves and brought them back to our farm here in Durrow, County Offaly. They are being reared following our five-point plan.” Trása said.

Keeping in mind the title of their project ‘Exploring the opportunities of low carbon beef’ the team aim to demonstrate how Irish farmers can produce the most sustainable beef by following their five-point plan, whilst also educating consumers about carbon sequestration on farms.

The five points of the plan:

1. Using a high genetic merit bull

2. Consulting with your local vet and following a health plan

3. Managing grassland efficiently

4. Using homegrown feeds

5. Supporting local businesses

Sinéad said the plan supports “the three pillars of sustainability” – environmental, economic and social sustainability.

“People have asked us if the plan will actually work, and we just point to our calves. They are over 500kg at the moment and we got them in September at six months old. They are being raised on beans and barley, which is the most sustainable diet for them to be on.

“We’re four young girls, women in agriculture, and there are people listening to our ideas about sustainability, which is brilliant. We are the future of Irish farming and we have to change people’s ways if we want to have a more sustainable future.” Sinéad said.

The group have also organised events to give back to the local community and have raised more than €10,000 for various Irish charities since they began the project.

“Our first event was a raffle for Dóchas Offaly at Christmas last year, and we raised €5,700. We also held a Daffodil Day bake sale in April and raised €500 for the Irish Cancer Society.

“Most recently, Teagasc invited us to be at their stand at the Tullamore Show. We raffled off an Angus bullock at the show and raised €4,203 for Crumlin Children’s Hospital,” Mary Ellen Colton said.

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue was invited to draw the winner of the raffle the girls had organised at the Tullamore show. Speaking there the minister commended the girls for the effort they have made so far and thanked them for their leadership in promoting sustainable farming.

“The project that the girls have been involved in is really inspiring in relation to monitoring what you’re doing, looking at the different steps that can be taken to reduce our carbon emissions and showing us farmers how we can continue to do what we do, producing food, but doing it better,” he said.

As part of the competition, the girls went on a trip to Brussels in March. There, they visited the European Parliament and made a presentation on their project to MEPs.

“On the first day of the trip [before they went to Brussels], we were in Lismullin Cookery School in Navan and gave a presentation, the following day we were in Bord Bia headquarters, and then we were off to Brussels to the European Parliament. We were gave a presentation on something we firmly believe in and we had people in front of us who were listening to our ideas and could take them on board to make a change. It was a really great experience,” said Chloe.

The girls are now on the home straight in the competition and the overall winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in Croke Park next March.

“When we look back to the start of the competition to now, and how far we have come. Our presentation, communication and organisational skills have all come on so much. The skills we have learned and the people we have met through the competition are just exceptional.

“We have many exciting events coming up in the next few weeks. Our calves are going to Kepak Kilbeggan on November 10 and that will be followed with our final report and interview over the Christmas holidays. We will then have the awards ceremony in March, where we hope to be crowned champions,” said Mary Ellen.

With the new school year beginning this week, the Kilbeggan students made a call-out to transition year students to get involved with the competition this year.

“I couldn’t recommend this competition enough to students. If you’re from a farming background, it’s great, but if you’re not, it’s even better, as you will learn so much about the industry. I think this competition needs to be heard about more because at the start you’re making a video and then in the blink of an eye you’re standing in the European Parliament in Brussels, talking about your ideas. Once this competition is over for us, and we move on to college, the skills we have gained will really stand to us,” said Trása.

The group gave this piece of advice for students thinking of entering this year. “Go at it with a full heart and if you have an idea, stick with it and develop the idea as much as you can. If you do that, you will go a long way.

“We started in TY in November 2021 and it won’t finish for us until March 2024. It is a huge commitment but it really is worth it when you look at all you can get out of it,” they said.