Change the world using Irish beef...

“My future will be something to do with agriculture, whether full or part-time, it’ll always be there.” Those are the words of Killeshandra 17-year-old, Victoria Kells, who has won a cow in Heifers and Hoggets (the Irish Farmers Journal competition) and was telling The Anglo-Celt about that and her thoughts on the future of the industry. Victoria lives on the family farm with her parents Basil and Hazel, older brother Philip and younger sister Aisling, and their 75-strong suckler cow herd (of which 15 are pedigree animals) and 60 Suffolk and Texel ewes. When The Anglo-Celt knocked the door one Thursday evening a couple of weeks ago - to see and hear about the heifer she won - Victoria bounced out of the house with a huge smile and a country welcome. She is in her Leaving Cert. year at the Royal School in Cavan and had taken time out from the studies to tell us about her background in farming. Her earliest farming memory goes back 15 years “Daddy decided to start me young!”. That was in Carrigallen when (1998/99) Basil won several trophies for his animals, and Victoria remembers reluctantly posing for the Leitrim Observer photographer with her dad and a prize-winning cow. “I took a more active role on the farm from about the age of six or seven,” she explained. “I’d go to Corlisbratten [where the family have outlying land] to bring in the sheep for dosing and shearing. I’ve always enjoyed handling animals.” They’re not just farm animals either, as the family pet is Sandy, a two-year-old rescue dog from the CSPCA, and there are two Connemara ponies and two filly foals on the farm. But cattle or pets, Victoria has a good eye for quality and her Limousin show heifer Crystal won champion of breed at Cloone, County Leitrim in 2007. “It was on the toss of a coin between us and the reserve champion for the overall title, and we lost it,” said Victoria. Another animal she remembers fondly is Black Eyes, a pet cow from when she was five. She was a suckler and Victoria didn’t want to let her go to the factory, though the animal “was 15 or 16” at the time. Victoria first entered the Farmers Journal heifer and hogget competition three years ago; “knew one of the girls who won last year and thought why not”. She had to write six essays on subjects such as breeding and grassland management, and was one of 28 finalists at the Tullamore Show in August. There she got through rigorous interviews with the four judges - the toughest question concerned what she would you do if a cow was calving, but she demonstrated the knowledge gained through her years working on the farm. The prize heifer (Bella), a Parthenaise, Limousin cross, is home on the farm now. The breed was introduced to Ireland in the 1990 and though numbers remain small, they are growing. Victoria and her dad had researched it before the finals and decided it was “a breed Daddy and I liked - they’re renowned for their beef and milk”. The pair went to the National Ploughing Championships to talk to and thank the organisers of the competition and to see the Parthenaise stand, and are now making plans for the animal. “We hope to calve her in October,” said Victoria, “outside if the weather is good, as calves born outside tend to be stronger.” More in this week's Anglo-Celt...