Author: National Ploughing Association

Calves in the Classroom  – Finalists announced: Students to rear Irish Angus calves for Leaving Certificate 2017

22 September 2015: The Irish Angus Producer Group and its processor partners, ABP Ireland and Kepak Group, are delighted to announce the five finalist schools of the 2015 Certified Irish Angus Beef School Competition. The competition in its second year has become phenomenally popular with double the amount of schools applying in 2015 over 2014.

The competition is designed to encourage young people to study Agricultural Science for their Leaving Cert and give a strong basic understanding of farming for future life. It also offers a unique opportunity to students from outside the normal agricultural environment to gain an understanding and insight into what is involved in the production of their food.

Each finalist school will be presented with 5 Irish Angus Cross calves by Miriam O’Callaghan at a presentation held on the Irish Angus stand this evening 23 September at 5.00pm at the National Ploughing Championships joined by their school principal, teacher, their parents and families.

The calves will be taken home to the students’ family farms or to prearranged farms where they will be reared by the students for the next 18 months up to slaughter. Students will look after the animals and use the experience they gain in doing so to help in the completion of their Ag Science project and assist them in putting into practice the theory they will learn in the classroom.

The excitement of these young people is overwhelming and in particular with one group of 4 young ladies from Our Lady’s School, Terenure, Dublin 6W who have no former practical experience of livestock. These young ladies cannot wait to get the calves back to their school for a naming ceremony where they will introduce them to the entire school.

In total, there are 18 students involved from the following schools:

• 2 girls from Presentation Secondary School, Loughboy, Co. Kilkenny
• 4 girls from Our Lady’s School, Terenure, Dublin 6W
• 3 boys from Ballymahon Vocational School, Ballymahon, Co. Longford
• 4 girls, 1 boy from Colaiste Mhuire, Buttevant, Co. Cork
• 4 Boys from Salesian Secondary College, Copsewood, Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick

A final presentation of the successful students’ projects will be made to a panel of Agricultural, Beef and Food Industry experts where an overall winner will be selected.  The students will make reports at set milestones through the lifetime of the animals and will visit farms, processing and retail facilities to gain an understanding of how each relies on the other. Students will benefit fully from the financial gain derived from the production of the cattle. One school will be chosen as the overall winner and receive an additional €2,000 payment towards their further education. The competition has a total prize fund of €15,000 per annum.

For more information please contact:

Irish Angus Producer Group, Longfield, Virginia, Co. Cavan

Tel: 046-9242541/2820; Email: info@angusproducergroup.com

This year saw the number of applications rise by 30% for the Innovation Awards in association with Enterprise Ireland the Farmers Journal and the National Ploughing Association. The event at this year’s ploughing championship will have to double in size to give the shortlisted applicants the opportunity to display their inventions and concepts to the agricultural industry and visitors this year.

Aside from having more applicants this year, the type of products applications is also much wider from information technology, safety on farms and some larger scale manufacturing projects. NPA PR Officer Anna Marie McHugh commented having seen the applications for this year “There is no doubt that the creative and entrepreneurial spark in Ireland is alive and well.  The National Ploughing Association is delighted to deliver this opportunity to help innovation develop in Ireland, in association with our partners in Enterprise Ireland and the Farmers Journal.”

There will be also two categories added this year with a junior award for under 18’s and a student award. The sting in the tail for the winners in each category is the ‘Innovation Den’. This year to be given the overall innovation title, each finalist must pitch there concept to the ‘Innovation Panel’ who will submit their results to the overall judges. The Innovation panel will be made up of some of the top business men and women from Ireland. Their identity will not be revealed until they take their seat in the ‘Innovation Den’.   

Commenting on this development in the competition Denis Duggan from Enterprise Ireland said “It will give the finalists a chance to get feedback from leading industry experts on their innovation and develop their ideas more”

A full list of the shortlisted applicants will shortly be published in the Farmers Journal.

The Overall Winner of the Innovation Arena Award was The Falcon Forwarder, the only Irish build forestry forwarder, built by Marcia Franklin, Oldcastle Co. Meath. Marcia said the support and advice given by Enterprise Ireland, has helped to promote the brand across Europe. In particular enquiries from the Nordic countries arrive on a weekly basis. The Falcon Forwarder seen at last year’s innovation stand at the Ploughing championship is sold and working locally. The Farmers journal machinery team will review the machine in the next month.

The innovation awards at the Ploughing Championship last year provided the launching pad for many ideas and products, in the established and in the start-up category awards. Last year’s category award winners are listed below;

·         Slurrysafe – Safety Award Winner;

·         Dairymaster – Animal Health Award winner in Established company category;

·         BovAlert (DIT Hothouse) – Animal Health Award winner in Startup company category;

·         Falcon Forwarder  – Agri-Engineering Award winner in Startup company category;

·         Denis Doyle Engineering   – Agri-Engineering Award winner in Establishing company category;

·         Herdwatch – Software Award winner in Established Company Category;

·         Farmflo – Software Award winner in Startup category;

·         Emarts Daily – promoted by Marie Costello was named Young Innovator;

This year the prize fund has been increased by €15,000 to €65,000 giving a clear commitment from Enterprise Ireland, The Farmers Journal and the NPA to innovation in Ireland. Enterprise Ireland has also secured further funding and support to some of the category winners, with a good business plan and a willingness to succeed.

Justin McCarthy, Editor& Chief Executive of the Irish Farmers Journal added that he and his team at the Farmers Journal are delighted to support home grown talent in Ireland “innovation is the key to securing the future of any business and agriculture is no different in this regard. We must continue to be innovative in how we use the latest technology to reduce labour, increase productivity, and develop market share in an increasingly competitive global market.”

Leading National Hunt Jockeys Bryan Cooper, Adrian Heskin and Kate Harrington launch Horse Racing Ireland’s “Dating at the Races”

Grade 1 Cheltenham race winning jockeys Bryan Cooper and Adrian Heskin and leading lady amateur jockey Kate Harrington have launched Horse Racing Ireland’s (HRI’s) “Dating at the Races” game which will take place in the HRI marquee at the National Ploughing Championships.

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) will attend the National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Stradbally, Co. Laois for all three days (Tuesday 22^nd – Thursday 24^th September). At The Races presenter Matt Chapman will act as MC, interviewing a wide selection of National Hunt jockeys daily and hosting a range of competitions including “Dating at the Races”.

Two live shows will take place each day at 12pm and 3pm in the Horse Racing Ireland marquee. At 3pm each day Matt will give attendees the opportunity to take part in “Dating at the Races” where the lucky lady/man will have the chance to select one of three potential suitors and win a day at the races including hospitality for the winning couple and a group of their friends.

Matt Chapman said: “As anyone who watches At The Races will know, I’m always only too willing to comment on the tractors while gearing up for a race. This is a great chance for me to get involved with Irish culture and play a small part in showing Ireland’s terrific racing industry off to the public. We’ll also be having a bit of fun, so my advice is if you fancy a good day out come and join us as I go ploughing crazy. Yeeehaaa!”

For a full schedule of events over the three days visit http://bit.ly/1N2thCU

Foroige Time Travel Garden with Diarmuid Gavin,  sponsored by Aldi in association with the National Ploughing Association.

Four Foroige Clubs from Clare, Cork, Galway and Laois are creating with the help of Diarmuid Gavin and his team four gardens under the title of Time Travel using plants and flowers from Aldi.  Each of these gardens will be transported  by Aldi back to their communities  after the National Ploughing Championships to remain a testament to their hard work and creativity.