RTÉ's Miriam presents Kiltimagh students with calves

RTÉ broadcaster Miriam O’Callaghan met with St. Louis CS, Kiltimagh, students and presented them with passports for the five Irish Angus Cross calves they will today bring home with them to rear as part of a unique secondary schools’ competition.

The Certified Irish Angus Beef Schools Competition, run by the Irish Angus Producer Group, along with its processor partners, ABP Ireland 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.

Teams from St. Louis Community School in Kiltimagh, Moate Community School, Co. Westmeath, Sligo Grammar School, St. Aloysius College, Co. Cork, and Castleknock College, Co. Dublin, were selected following a competitive process earlier this year to receive the Irish Angus calves to rear for the next 18 months until their eventual slaughter in 2019.

In addition to rearing the calves, the schools will complete a project focussing on a different aspect of farming and the food chain.

St. Louis CS students John Connaughton, Ava Charlton, Nathan Hession, Orlaith Gilmartin, James Cunnane will research the theme ‘Farming traditions and environmental challenges in the west’ which will explore the value of  farming to the community, the suitability of Irish Angus to farming systems in the west of Ireland and how farmers can improve their carbon footprint.

The 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.

For further information on the project, visit www.angusproducergroup.com.