The agri-food company ABP has opened its agri-skills development programme, the ABP Angus Youth Challenge, for new entries from teenagers in post primary schools, clubs and societies.
A mini herd of five Angus cross calves worth c.£3,500 is just one element of the prize package for each of the teams that reach the final stage of this competition.
In 2020 a team from Castle Tower School in Ballymena entered the competition and progressed on to the finalist programme.
The boys involved all came from a farming background and reared their calves on the farm of their teacher Ciaran McCaughan. Ciaran went on to win Farming Life’s Unsung Hero Award for the exceptional work he did with his team of pupils during their time as finalists. Ciaran used participation in ABP Angus Youth as a springboard to introduce Lantra training in the school.
The ABP Angus Youth Challenge is delivered in partnership with Certified Irish Angus Producer Group.
Charles Smith, general manager of Certified Irish Angus Producer Group explained: “Ciaran and his team have demonstrated what can be achieved. We hope their success encourages more young people of all abilities to take part. We’d be delighted to help plan and indeed accommodate an entry whether this year or in the future with any similar principal; teacher or club leader who is interested.”
Entrants have to select a topical area of the agri-food Industry they are interested in and record a short application video to enter. In the video they explain why they would like to win the calves.
The team from Castle Tower explored the positive impact of farming on their lives under the theme of ‘Farmily Farms and Food Heros’.
A selection of teams will be shortlisted and invited to take part in an exhibition event in the Eikon Centre on 27th October.
An independent panel will judge the teams’ performance at the exhibition to determine who goes through to the year-long finalist programme and wins the prizes.
At the end of the final stage one overall winning team will be presented with a cheque for £1,000 for their club or school.
The competition has been widely recognised in both farming and education sectors for the beneficial impact it is having on raising the aspirations of young people to work in the agri-food sector.
Visit www.abpangusyouthchallenge.com or contact the competition co-ordinator.
A mini herd of five Angus cross calves worth c.£3,500 is just one element of the prize package for each of the teams that reach the final stage of this competition.
In 2020 a team from Castle Tower School in Ballymena entered the competition and progressed on to the finalist programme.
The boys involved all came from a farming background and reared their calves on the farm of their teacher Ciaran McCaughan. Ciaran went on to win Farming Life’s Unsung Hero Award for the exceptional work he did with his team of pupils during their time as finalists. Ciaran used participation in ABP Angus Youth as a springboard to introduce Lantra training in the school.
The ABP Angus Youth Challenge is delivered in partnership with Certified Irish Angus Producer Group.
Charles Smith, general manager of Certified Irish Angus Producer Group explained: “Ciaran and his team have demonstrated what can be achieved. We hope their success encourages more young people of all abilities to take part. We’d be delighted to help plan and indeed accommodate an entry whether this year or in the future with any similar principal; teacher or club leader who is interested.”
Entrants have to select a topical area of the agri-food Industry they are interested in and record a short application video to enter. In the video they explain why they would like to win the calves.
The team from Castle Tower explored the positive impact of farming on their lives under the theme of ‘Farmily Farms and Food Heros’.
A selection of teams will be shortlisted and invited to take part in an exhibition event in the Eikon Centre on 27th October.
An independent panel will judge the teams’ performance at the exhibition to determine who goes through to the year-long finalist programme and wins the prizes.
At the end of the final stage one overall winning team will be presented with a cheque for £1,000 for their club or school.
The competition has been widely recognised in both farming and education sectors for the beneficial impact it is having on raising the aspirations of young people to work in the agri-food sector.
Visit www.abpangusyouthchallenge.com or contact the competition co-ordinator.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 For us starting out, I was quite concerned. When I first saw the ABP Youth Angus competition,
00:07 and I thought, can our school compete with the other mainstream schools? We invited Liam
00:16 and Charles and we discussed it. And from that, it gave me the realisation that what
00:22 I'm doing in pharma is exactly what the ABP Angus competition is about. The management
00:28 within the school and myself decided that we needed to offer these boys a future in
00:34 school and some training opportunities. So we started to look at how we could progress
00:40 them when they leave school. So we looked into Lantra, where you would do different
00:44 qualifications for using different pieces of machinery. To look at the safety aspect
00:49 also, so these children now growing into young adults were using equipment safely. We also
00:56 looked at doing a level 2 agriculture qualification, which would help some of the boys in their
01:01 future careers. Looking over all the events that we have done, it's given our whole
01:08 school an impetus to move forward as a school with confidence, because we see ourselves
01:15 as equal with those other schools now. It gives them a purpose, and there's something
01:20 at the end of the day. They have so enjoyed it.
01:24 [APPLAUSE]