27 January 2010

Claire Wallace, Greenmount Campus, College of Agriculture, Food & Rural Enterprise (CAFRE)

SAFE FOOD PRODUCTION

Agricultural students at CAFRE’s Greenmount Campus have been visited by staff from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Northern Ireland to hear first hand about the Agency’s ‘Farm to Fork’ approach to food safety, to ensure businesses comply with the Food and Feed Hygiene regulations.

These regulations state that the responsibility for the production of safe food lies with the food business operator, a message which the FSA are keen to reinforce. Anyone who produces or handles food, including farmers and growers, are classed as food businesses and this extends right through the food chain to the consumer purchase point.

Greenmount students are being given lots of information on the FSA’s role, focusing on its primary production work, for example, on specific requirements for milk producers, as well as practical advice on complying with the Food and Feed Hygiene regulations.

Staff at Greenmount are delighted that the Agency is taking the time to educate our students about the legislation as it is important that students recognise and understand that the production of safe food not only protects the consumer but benefits the agricultural industry as a whole.

Four Greenmount National Diploma in Agriculture first year students whose families supply milk to United Dairy Farmers check out the FSA website for advice on safe food production.  They are (from left): Kyle Bradley, Killylea; Matthew Brady, Enniskillen; Daniel Jackson, Crossgar; Jonathan Gillespie, Portglenone.

DAIRY STOCKHANDLING EXPERIENCE

In November, first year agriculture students at CAFRE’s Greenmount Campus got involved in training dairy heifers in preparation for the College’s Young Handlers Competition.  This event allowed students the opportunity to develop skills in the preparation and showing of farm animals, skills that might be useful when they return to their own farms.

Each student in the competition had to prepare and show a dairy heifer.  A trip to the Winter Fair at Balmoral to watch the professionals at work was also enjoyed by the students.  After weeks of practising the show day was upon them.  In December, 15 students showed the dairy heifers in front of an audience of fellow students, staff, parents and friends.  Each student tried their best to impress the judge with all the tricks of livestock showing and handling that they had learned.

The majority of students who took part had no previous experience of showing dairy cattle.  It was very satisfying to watch students who at the start were nervous and apprehensive develop the confidence and maturity to show an animal proudly on the day of the competition.

This year’s Dairy Young Handlers Competition was judged by Paul Dunn, past Greenmount student from Bangor and current Northern Ireland manager of Worldwide Sires Ltd.  Congratulations go to Aaron Haffey from Portadown who won the competition and Stephen Gordon from Kilkeel who was runner up.

Winner of the Young Handler Competition, Aaron Haffey from Portadown, is congratulated by the judge, Paul Dunn from Bangor.

RABDF DAIRY STUDENT AWARD

Robert McConaghy from Ballymoney, who recently graduated with a Higher National Diploma in Agriculture at Greeenmount, has been awarded a runner up place in the final of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF) and Dairy Crest Dairy Student Award 2009.

This competition was open to all students from Agricultural Colleges and Universities throughout the UK.

A panel of judges initially interviewed each of the entrants for a hypothetical herd manager's position with the Genus MOET herd at Reaseheath College of Agriculture.   The second stage of the competition was a tour of a Dairy Crest factory involving a discussion on milk supply and marketing issues.  Robert then made the shortlist of four students going through to the final at The Farmers’Club, Whitehall, London.  

The final took the form of an oral presentation by each candidate, which was further analysed by questioning from RABDF and Dairy Crest judges.  Finally the candidates had to take part in a press conference and ‘Young Guns Debate’, with journalists from Farmers Weekly and Farmers Guardian present.

Robert received a runner up prize in the final of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers and Dairy Crest Dairy 2009 Student Award.  

Robert was able to apply experiences from his home farm, Greenmount Higher National Diploma course, work placement farm and Greenmount’s CREAM herd to the competition experience, impressing the judges with his breadth of knowledge and balanced outlook on the challenges facing the industry.  

Robert McConaghy takes part in the ‘Young Guns Debate’ at the final round of interviews and discusses how he hopes to return home and shape the future of the family run dairy farm with Nick Everington, Chief Executive of the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers.

Robert receives his prize money from Jane Charlesworth, Dairy Crest (competition sponsor) - Farmer Communications Manager.  Also included are David Cotton, Vice-Chairman of RABDF, Dr Stephanie Woods, Dairy Lecturer, Greenmount and David Herdman, Chairman of Dairy Crest.