Schools invited to join Farm Walk and Talk

Local schools have been invited to join Farm Walk and Talk 2023, with an event planned at Ballyhaise Agricultural College in March.

Farm Walk and Talk 2023 is for Agricultural Science students and will run across four weeks, from February 28 - March 23 this Spring. It is a longstanding collaboration between Agri Aware, Teagasc, UCD, the Irish Farmers Journal and I.A.S.T.A.

The Farm Walk and Talk event at Ballyhaise Teagasc Agricultural College takes place on March 21. An event also takes place at the Grange Teagasc Agricultural College in Meath on February 28.

From observing cows being milked, comparing different breeds of cattle, examining soil profiles, lamb births, to watching piglets suckle and farm safety demonstrations, the students get to experience the realities of the subjects that they are taught each day in the classroom.

All schools that attend the Farm Walk & Talk events get access to a suite of educational classroom friendly video assets. They also receive a set of printed comprehensive study notes, which form part of the new Agricultural Science syllabus, as well as the previous and current IIS themes. This year's theme is ‘The role of food production in maintaining natural resources in Irish agriculture’.

Minister of Agriculture, Charlie McConalogue launched 2023 Spring Agri Aware Farm Walk & Talk recently at UCD Lyons farm in County Kildare.

The launch was also followed by a roundtable advocacy meeting, which allowed the key partners of the events – Agri Aware, IASTA, Teagasc, UCD and the Irish Farmers Journal - an opportunity to speak to the Minister about concerns on the difficulty of the new Ag Science curriculum and the effect it is having on the uptake of the subject in schools.

Minister McConalogue commented: “It is hugely important for Ag Science students to see, first-hand, the great work that goes on farms.

“Ag Science students are the farmers, the food scientists and the leaders of the next generation of our outstanding industry. We are an industry that supports every rural parish in the country and has exports of over €16bn. It is crucial that we continue to develop and sustainably grow our sector and I know our Ag Science students will take on the baton and lead us with distinction.”

Registration opened on Monday, January 30. Places for the events are on a first come, first served basis.