Students from five schools across Ireland have been presented with Aberdeen Angus calves as part of the Certified Irish Angus Schools' Competition.

TikTok Influencer and TV presenter Mary-Claire Fitzpatrick presented the secondary-school students with the 'blue cards' for their calves at 2022 National Ploughing Championships today (Wednesday, September 21).

The students are from schools in counties Meath, Dublin, Cork, Tipperary, and Westmeath. They met the Angus-cross calves that they will rear for the first time at the event.

After the Ploughing, they will take the calves home where they will rear them for 18 months as part of the competition.

The Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition, is run by Certified Irish Angus and its processor partners, ABP and Kepak.

The competition 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. 

The five schools who have been shortlisted for the event are as follows:

Dunshaughlin Community College, Co. Meath;
Manor House School, Raheny, Co. Dublin;
St. Colman's College, Fermoy, Co. Cork;
Ursuline Secondary School, Thurles, Co. Tipperary;
Mercy Secondary School, Kilbeggan, Co. Westmeath.

The finalists were narrowed down from 140 entries after a competitive, multi-stage interview process earlier this year.

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

This year's projects include:

Dunshaughlin Community College students Eoin O'Sullivan, Liam Byrne, David Malone and Eric Allen will explore the theme ‘A holistic approach to improving animal performance’ and will address the use of natural resources, grass, and breeding to improve sustainability;
Manor House School students Caoilinn Ní Shúilleabháin Labhraigh and Aisling Gallagher will research the theme ‘Meeting Consumer expectations on sustainable beef production’ which will explore why it is important for farmers to connect with consumers and tell the story of family farming; 
St. Colman's College students Darragh Morrison, Kian O'Donoghue, Diarmuid O'Donovan and Cathal McAuliffe will focus on the theme of ‘Researching the benefits of Farm Biodiversity’. They will do this by exploring the environmental challenges facing farmers of the future and researching the balance of technology improvement with beef farming tradition;
Ursuline Secondary School students Kaitlyn Ryan, Gráinne Callanan, Evie Smyth and Rebekah Smith will explore the theme ‘Health and Safety on Beef Farms’ which will investigate how a farmer’s physical and mental health can be impacted, both positively and negatively, by their way of life; 
Mercy Secondary School students Sinéad Bracken, Mary Ellen Colton, Chloe McDermott and Trása Bracken have the theme of ‘Exploring the opportunities of low carbon beef’. They will demonstrate how Irish farmers can produce the most sustainable beef by following the Certified Irish Angus five-point plan, while also educating consumers and farmers about carbon sequestration on farms. 

The Certified Irish Angus Schools' 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.

Speaking at the event, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue, praised the students for their efforts and wished them the best of luck.