CAFRE Level 2 Agricultural Business Operations [ABO] student wins OCNNI Learning Endeavour High Commendation Award
July 3, 2024
Susan O’Neill from Dungannon, Co Tyrone completed the CAFRE Level 2 ABO course at Loughry Campus along with her husband Shay earlier in the year. The course consisted of a series of 20 evenings one evening per week over the course of last autumn and winter.
Mature students are increasingly joining the course because the part-time evening format fits in with their otherwise busy lives. After graduating with a BSc in Occupational Therapy and MSc in Animal-Human Interaction, Susan and Shay amalgamated their small farms to form a regenerative livestock farming business that provides heritage produce with an ethical farm to fork ethos and sold through direct channels to their customers. The main benefit of the OCN NI course for Susan was training in the technical aspects of operating a farm business, delivered through the five modules: Livestock Production; Animal Health; Farm Health and Safety; Farm Business Management; and ICT. Susan found all the course content relevant and beneficial and highlighted the benefit of instruction in the use of ICT on the farm and in engagement with the supply chain for assurance of high-quality food and high standards of animal welfare.
On completion of the course CAFRE nominated Susan for an OCNNI Learning Endeavour Award and was delighted to be highly commended in the Further Education Learner of the Year category receiving £500 at the Awards event in the Titanic Suite Belfast in June.
Susan said:
“Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to win such a prestigious award which I was delighted to receive. Both my husband Shay and I had a really lovely day out in the iconic Titanic suite. A day to remember”.
CAFRE’s Head of Education Service Dr Eric Long who attended the Awards ceremony said:
“I congratulate our ABO Level 2 Learner, Susan O’Neill, for recognition of outstanding achievement through being shortlisted for the OCNNI Further Education Learner of the Year Award and being presented with a Highly Commended award, which reflects very positively on Susan, and all the staff involved in the Level 2 ABO programme and on CAFRE as a whole, especially given the high level of competition across the category”.
For more information on the Level 2 ABO course see details here.