Agriculture students from the opposite ends of Ireland met up in Dundalk recently to share their experiences of their exchange visits with each other.
The two groups were from CAFRE’s Greenmount Campus in Antrim and from Kildalton College in Piltown, Co Kilkenny. The groups had been on a week’s exchange visiting each other’s college to learn about the different approaches to dairy farming practiced at either end of the country. This was a first for the two colleges and the week’s events included visits to local farmers and evening activities culminating in dinners hosted by the UFU and IFA, north and south respectively. The dinner at Greenmount Campus was attended by Agriculture Minister, Michelle Gildnernew MLA MP and the President of the Ulster Farmers’ Union, Mr Graham Furey.
During their visit to Greenmount Campus, the Kildalton students were impressed by the high-value high-input systems developed by CAFRE, such as the CREAM herd, giving about 10,000 litres of milk from each cow per year.
The CAFRE students, who are all studying for the Higher National Diploma in Agriculture, were impressed by the ability of the Kildalton farmers to turn cattle out onto grass so early in the year and to produce so much milk from low input-high forage systems. The students did however see that ground conditions in many Northern Ireland farms would make widespread uptake of this system difficult, and that the removal of quota might lead more southern farmers into high-input systems.
One of the CAFRE Students, Mark Beattie, (from Newtownstewart, Co. Tyrone) recognised similarities in the Kildalton system with grassland management practices in New Zealand where he had spent part of his industrial experience placement.
Further information on the CAFRE Higher Education programmes in Agriculture, Rural and Countryside Management and Horticulture can be obtained directly from the college by emailing enquiries@cafre.ac.uk
CAFRE students and Kildalton students on the occasion of the first inter-college exchange between the two colleges. Also in the photograph are James Ryan, Kildalton College lecturer (front row left) and Dr Stephanie Woods, Greenmount Campus Lecturer (front row centre) who organised the events during the exchange.