Category: 2016 Archive

The Irish Angus Exhibition Centre

This year’s National Ploughing Championships will see Irish Angus Producer Group, along with its partners, Irish Angus Cattle Society, ABP Food Group, Kepak Group and Tesco Ireland, offer unique opportunities for young and old. Farmers and non-farmers alike can benefit from a visit to the Irish Angus Exhibition Centre where a number of exciting initiatives are on offer.

Prize Valued at €3,000

To celebrate the 19-year relationship between the Irish Angus Producer Group and Tesco Ireland, farmers and farmers of the future have a unique opportunity to avail of a €3,000 voucher towards the purchase of an Irish Angus animal at the Irish Angus Cattle Society’s Elite Sale in Carrick-on-Shannon on 10 December 2016.

This allows the winner to establish his/herself at the very top end of the Irish Angus breed and to choose to start with an animal of their choice: a breeding bull, a breeding female or an in-calf female. The Irish Angus Cattle Society’s Elite Sale attracts the very best pedigree Irish Angus cattle in the country to one event. Combining this with the success of the Irish Angus breed over the past three years makes entry in this competition a not-to-be-missed opportunity for anyone seriously interested in beef production.

To Enter:

Simply visit the Irish Angus Exhibition Centre (Block 1, Row 16, Stand 355), pick up an application form, answer a simple question and enter the draw. Competition only open to individuals with a valid herd number. Other terms and conditions also apply. The lucky winner will be selected on the last day of the show.

 Calves in the Classroom

Once again, the hugely popular Certified Irish Angus Beef School Competition returns with applications open for entry to the 2017 competition and the finalists announced for 2016.

The Irish Angus Producer Group and its processor partners, ABP Ireland and Kepak Group, are delighted to announce the five finalist schools of the 2016 Certified Irish Angus Beef School Competition.

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 RTÉ’s Miriam O’Callaghan at a presentation held in the Irish Angus Exhibition Centre at the National Ploughing Championships at 5.00pm on Wednesday 21 September 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 for Leaving Cert and assist them in putting into practice the theory they will learn in the classroom.

In total, there are 17 students involved from the following schools:

•                   5 boys from CBS The Green, Tralee, Co. Kerry
•                   2 boys from St. Brogan’s College, Bandon, Co. Cork
•                   4 girls from Coláiste Treasa, Kanturk, Co. Cork
•                   2 girls, 1 boy from Athlone Community College, Co. Westmeath
•                   3 boys from Rice College, Westport, Co. Mayo

• 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. When the calves have been reared, a final presentation of the students’ projects will be made to a panel of Agricultural, Beef and Food Industry experts where an overall winner will be selected and will receive an additional €2,000 payment towards their further education.
• Students will benefit fully from the financial gain derived from the production of the cattle. The competition has a total prize fund of €15,000.

Lions to Screen 10,000 at Ploughing Championship

Following on the detection of potential diabetes in more than 600 visitors to the National Ploughing Championship last year, Lions Clubs plan to screen a record 10,000 people at the 2016 event in Screggan, Tullamore, Co. Offaly.

A team of 140 Lions and qualified nurses will be at the Lions Marquee at the Championships from 20th to 22nd. September. They will offer visitors a free simple, painless blood test which is designed to identify early symptoms of diabetes. The service will run from 8am to 6pm on each day of the Ploughing Championships and the Lions are confident that they will significantly exceed the 8,000 visitors who availed of the test last year in Ratheniska.

Last year 8.8% of those screened, mainly farmers, were identified as potentially diabetic and were referred to their GPs for further examination.

According to Paul Allen, District Governor of Lions in Ireland, the incidence of diabetes is accelerating rapidly in rural Ireland due to diet and lifestyle changes and many people who are vulnerable to the disease remain oblivious of the risk that they are running. ‘Medical experts’ estimate that up to 200,000 people with diabetes in Ireland are unaware of their condition’, says Paul. ‘It is estimated that there are 200,000 people with diabetes and a similar number who have diabetes but are unaware that they have the condition. The majority of these people will only be diagnosed through an acute medical event because they do not have a regular blood test. A further 250,000 people have impaired glucose tolerance or “pre-diabetes” of which 50% will develop diabetes in the next five years if lifestyle changes are not made.’

Traditionally, farming was one of the most active occupations. However, according to the National Centre For Men’s Health at the Institute of Technology, Carlow, the evolution of tractors, combine harvesters, milking machines, ATV’s and jeeps has replaced a great deal of the labouring and physical aspects of farming. As a result, while farmers are still busy, they are not as physically active as they used to be. In a booklet, ‘Staying fit for Farming’, the Centre says that regular physical activity or exercise has been shown to have a hugely positive influence on both physical and mental health. It reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes and a number of cancers as well as being a very good way to manage stress and to control weight. However many farmers are not doing enough physical activity to have good health’

According to the Centre, farmers spend more time sitting while machinery ‘does the work’, some farmers stop taking part in sport when they feel that they can no longer do it competitively, many farmers struggle to find time for themselves when balancing their work and family life and some farmers simply get out of the habit of exercising and are not sure how to start back or what kind of exercise to do.

The 2,500 Lions in 112 Lions Clubs throughout Ireland, work to raise awareness of diabetes and organise frequent screening days all over the country. They have been offering this service at the National and World Ploughing Championships for many years and an indication of its effectiveness is the 693 participants in the 2015 test who were referred to their GP for further examination. This represents 8.8% of those tested.

Lions also liaise with the Diabetes Society of Ireland and will be distributing its information literature at the National Ploughing Championships.

The service at the 2016 National Ploughing Championships is organised by sixteen Lions Clubs in the Midlands Region- Portarlington, Naas, Monasterevin, Abbeyleix, Newbridge/Kildare, Portlaoise, Kilcullen, Tullamore, Baltinglass, Edenderry, Carlow, Roscommon, Birr, Mulingar, Athlone and Portumna.