Certified Irish Angus, ABP and Kepak, run the Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition which aims to encourage second-level students to gain an understanding about the care and attention that is required to produce and market the highest quality Irish Angus beef for consumers. The initiative challenges groups of students to rear 5 Certified Irish Angus calves for 18 months and carry out research on a chosen topic. 

A record number of over 170 school groups entered this year’s competition by submitting a 3-minute video on their chosen topic. Our school group, involving TY students Karen Harty, Ella Moloney, Serena Power and Keelin Power submitted their video based on the topic of Women in Agriculture, which was one of 72 submissions to be called to the interview stage in Athlone/Limerick in January. 

The girls presented their project ideas very well during the interview stage, resulting in them being called forward to exhibit their project ideas at the next stage of the Certified Irish Angus Schools Exhibition to a panel of Agri-food industry experts in Croke Park on the 31st March, 2023. 

‘We are lucky enough to have qualified for the final of this prestigious competition on the 31st of March in Croke Park. We can’t wait to present our project and we are really excited for the experience as a whole.   

Our favourite part of the competition so far has been the interview in Thomond Park. There, we met judges from ABP, Kepak and the Certified Irish Angus Producer Group. We spent a lot of time preparing for the interview, and we were thrilled to find out that we were among the 42 groups sent through to the final round in Croke Park.  

For incoming TYs we would recommend entering this competition. It has been great for the 4 of us to work on a project that we all have a great interest in. As well as that, we can’t wait to meet the other groups that qualified and learn from different teams.’  

The five schools who demonstrate the best understanding of the project will be announced as finalists and will be presented with their calves at the National Ploughing Championships in September 2023. 

We wish Karen, Ella, Serena and Keelin the very best of luck in Croke Park on the 31st of March and congratulate them on all of their hard work and success on their project so far!