ABP Clones hosted a sponsored 5km charity run and walk on Sunday, 24th April 2022 to help raise vital funds in response to the conflict in Ukraine. Up to 100 people took part and of €2,000 was raised on the day. Funds raised up to €2 million will be matched by the company across all ABP sites.
The walk began at 12:30pm, and the starting point was the ABP Clones facility, taking a route through Clones town, to the peace link and finishing back at the ABP facility for refreshments, food and entertainment. ABP Clones would like to thank everyone who took part and helped organise the event with the aim of supporting those who have been impacted by this conflict.
ABP employs a number of Ukrainian nationals in Poland and across Europe. The company is working locally with the Polish authorities and are providing direct humanitarian assistance on the ground to colleagues impacted by the war in Ukraine.
John McMurry, General Manager of ABP Clones, said: “ABP Clones is pleased to play a small part in response to the appalling situation in Ukraine. Thanks to all who came out to support us and help raise vital funds in response to the conflict in Ukraine.”
Sponsorship cards were issued to all staff as well as their friends and family who took part, which helped to raise as much funds as was possible.
ABP Nenagh hosted a sponsored 5km charity walk on Saturday 9th April 2022 to help raise vital funds in response to the conflict in Ukraine. Up to 120 people took part in the event and up to €4,000 was raised. Funds raised up to €2 million will be matched by the company across all ABP sites.
The walk began at 10.30am, and the starting point was the ABP Nenagh facility, taking a route through Nenagh town and finishing back at the ABP facility for refreshments, food and entertainment. ABP Nenagh would like to thank everyone who took part in the event and who helped organise the event with the aim of supporting those who have been impacted by this conflict.
ABP employs a number of Ukrainian nationals in Poland and across Europe. We are working locally with the Polish authorities and are providing direct humanitarian assistance on the ground to our colleagues impacted by the war in Ukraine.
Don O’Brien, General Manager of ABP Nenagh, said: “We here at ABP Nenagh are pleased to play a small part in response to the appalling situation in Ukraine. Thanks to all who came out to support us and help raise as much as we could.”
Sponsorship cards were issued to all staff as well as their friends and family who took part which helped to raise as much funds as was possible.
ABP Bandon hosted a sponsored 5km charity walk on Sunday 10th April 2022 to help raise vital funds in response to the conflict in Ukraine. Up to 300 people took part in the event and in excess of €4,000 was raised on the day, the company expects additional funds to be raised on the back of this event. Funds raised up to €2 million will be matched by the company across all ABP sites.
The walk began at 11.30am, and the starting point was the ABP Bandon facility taking a route through Bandon town itself and finishing back at the ABP facility for refreshments, food and entertainment for kids. ABP Bandon would like to thank everyone who took part in the event and who helped organise the event with the aim of supporting those who have been impacted by this conflict.
ABP employs a number of Ukrainian nationals in Poland and across Europe. We are working locally with the Polish authorities and are providing direct humanitarian assistance on the ground to our colleagues impacted by the war in Ukraine.
John Kelleher, Managing Director, ABP Bandon, said: “We are pleased to play a small part in response to the appalling situation in Ukraine.”
Sponsorship cards have been issued to all staff as well as their friends and family who are taking part.
Environmental, Economic & Ethical benefits of Certified Irish Angus explored by schools competition winners
Gold Cup winning jockey Rachael Blackmore inspires students with career advice at prestigious awards ceremony in Croke Park
Today, four students from Gorey Community School were announced as the winners of the 2022 Certified Irish Angus School’s Competition sponsored by ABP, at an awards ceremony which took place at Croke Park. Winners Eoin Kelly, Caoimhe Crean, Caoimhe Horan and Pádraig Kinsella impressed the judges with their approach to the prestigious calf-rearing competition, which is now in its eighth year. During the competition, the winning group researched the benefits of the 3 E’s (environmental, economic and ethical) of Certified Irish Angus breed, while also developing a recipe booklet to educate the local community on the sustainable breed. Opening t
he event, Charlie McConalogue Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine said: “ The Schools Competition is such a wonderfully creative and innovative initiative. It has captured the imagination of the farming and non-farming communities over the years. At a time when there are growing demands from consumers around the provenance of their food, the Certified Irish Angus Schools Competition is an important bridge between the producer and the consumer. It also tells as tremendous story of the quality of animal we are renowned for producing and the incredible care our world-class farmers take of their animals.”
Cheltenham Gold Cup winning jockey Rachael Blackmore was the special guest at this year’s awards ceremony. Rachael, who hails from a farming background and has strong family links to farming, shared her experience of growing up on a farm; detailing how this positively impacted her love for animals, career and sporting achievements through instilling a good work ethic that allowed her to reach dreams beyond her wildest imagination.
About the Competition
The Certified Irish Angus Schools competition, created by Certified Irish Angus, ABP and Kepak, challenges students to rear five Irish Angus calves for beef production. It aims to promote the Certified Irish Angus Beef brand while communicating the care and attention required to produce quality beef for consumers.
Announcing the winners, Charles Smith, General Manager, Irish Angus Producer Group said, “We are thrilled to be back in Croke Park this year for a physical event which provides a great opportunity for the agri-industry to engage with the next generation. The students gathered here today display immense maturity and knowledge of the agri-food sector and it is an honour for us to host them.
Gorey Community School are well deserved winners of this year’s competition. The fact that one of the winning team is not from a farm but possesses a deep respect for farming and all things rural, demonstrates the strength of the community this group come from. The enormous respect for the farms and the traditions they come from was evident in their approach and execution of this project. The quality of the projects carried out by all students is hugely encouraging for the future of farming and the Certified Irish Angus competition”
ABP has announced the launch of a new integrated sustainable beef production scheme for farmers, called Advantage Beef Programme . The programme is open to dairy, beef and suckler farmers and will guarantee a sustainability bonus for animals reared to agreed protocols and bred to an approved minimum genetic merit standard by 2023.
The scheme is underpinned by leading genetic research, which has been undertaken in collaboration with the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation and Teagasc at ABP’s Demonstration Farm in Carlow. This research has focused on combining efficient on-farm practices, prescribed rearing protocols and optimum sire selection for beef animals and has also incorporated the principles of ABP’s Blade Farming model.
Farmers will also be free to purchase feed from a supplier that suits them best.
Commenting at the launch, Kevin Cahill, Managing Director, ABP Ireland said: “We are delighted to launch this inclusive integrated beef programmme which will be open to beef, dairy and suckler farmers. Our focus is on delivering a model which will help farmers to improve their on-farm efficiencies whilst also delivering more sustainable outcome.”
Animals participating in the programme are expected to be marketed at 18-28 months, depending on the farming system, with an average age of 24 months some 3 months below the national average. This will ensure a significant reduction of emissions per animal, resulting in a more carbon efficient and lower cost of production model overall. Importantly, the scheme will also result in better returns for farmers.
ABP’s research has involved over 4,000 animals since 2014 and has demonstrated that with a data-driven select breeding approach, significant methane emission reductions are achievable. The research is being supported by Teagasc, and the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation has also found that retruns to farmers could increase by up to €200. Similar research work has also been undertaken by ABP in the UK in collaboration with Harper Adams University.
Pupils from Banbridge Academy; Cookstown High; Newtownhamilton College and St. Catherine’s College, Armagh have received an early Christmas present of a mini-herd of Angus cross calves courtesy of ABP and the Northern Irish Angus Producer Group. Each school team will now have to rear the calves through to beef as part of becoming finalists in the ABP Angus Youth Challenge.
This year-long experience as finalists will see them develop relevant skills for working in agri-food. The teenagers, who are all 14-15 years old, will also have to work on special projects relating to the local beef sector that will enhance their studies across a range of GCSE subjects. These projects will challenge them to explore forward-thinking ways to support sustainable beef production in Northern Ireland. College of Agriculture Food Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) advisors will mentor the teams during the coming year.
The team at Banbridge Academy has been given the theme of ‘Positioning Northern Ireland as a Global Leader in Sustainable Beef Production.’ Cookstown High School, who already have a team taking part in the finalist programme have been asked to research the ‘Features of the Northern Ireland Beef Farmer of the Future’ including what helps develop resilience.
Meanwhile Newtownhamilton College have been asked to look at younger consumers and the factors that influence their choices in beef consumption. The pupils from St Catherine’s College will be looking at the connectivity between animals, people, plants and the environment in a project entitled ‘One Health.’
To reach the final four, the pupils had to compete against 18 other teams which included taking part in an exhibition, judged by an independent panel of industry experts.
Their performance across all aspects of the final stage will be continually assessed. At the end of the programme, one overall winning team will receive £1,000 cash prize for their school. They now join four other teams who are currently taking part in the finalist programme – Cookstown High School, Dalriada School in Ballymoney; Friends’ Lisburn and St. Kevin’s College, Lisnaskea.
ABP has been awarded Platinum for the second year running in the Northern Ireland Environmental Benchmarking Survey which is organised by the responsible business network Business in the Community.
The NI Environmental Benchmarking Survey is an annual event that scores organisations on the measures they take to improve their environmental impacts. 113 organisations from a range of different sectors measured and reported their environmental impacts this year with 33 achieving Platinum.
The survey is an important comparison tool and a way for organisations to identify areas where they can improve their environmental impacts, as well as be recognised for their efforts to prioritise sustainability.
George Mullan, Managing Director of ABP Northern Ireland said, “as a Business in the Community Climate Action Champion we are delighted to be recognised for our organisational commitment to sustainability. ABP’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). These targets address emissions within our business and across our supply chain. We are investing in ways to significantly reduce emissions and we are engaging with our farmer suppliers to support them on this journey as a matter of urgency.”
Recent programmes includes research at ABP’s R&D farms on ways to help beef farmers reduce their environmental impact. This work has been ongoing for several years using a data-driven approach to improving genetics available to the beef herd so that beef farmers can reduce their environmental impact. The research combines the latest sustainability thinking from the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) and Teagasc in Ireland and Harper Adams University in the UK.
The study has demonstrated a methane emission reduction of up to 40% is
achievable and this could have significant positive benefits across beef production in
the British Isles. “Horizon, ABP’s dairy to beef partnership with Dale Farm in Northern Ireland is putting this research into practice here,” explains George Mullan.
ABP is also collaborating with the Queen’s University of Belfast on ways to make beef farming more sustainable. EIT – C Neutral is a pan-European project working to develop a decision support tool that will be cost effective and easily adopted at farm level to enable a reduction in net GHG emissions from livestock. This research with Queen’s is being carried out at ABP’s Demonstration Farm in Shropshire.
“The idea is that our research pipeline and demonstration farms identify new thinking and innovative practices that can then be shared widely with the farming community”, continues George Mullan.
One way of sharing that knowledge is through the ABP Sustainable Beef Podcast. Hosted by the well known farmer and TV presenter Adam Henson, there have been two episodes to date. They feature conversations with leading industry minds including Jude Capper of Harper Adams University, Professor Temple Grandin, Colorado State University and Professor Chris Reynolds of Reading University.
A group of pupils from Omagh Academy is taking the ABP Angus Youth Challenge Cup home to Co. Tyrone for their winning project on ‘Exploring the potential of a low carbon Angus beef brand.’ Joshua Keys, Tori Robson, James Fleming, Jill Liggett and Allister Crawford have been taking part in the ABP Angus Youth Challenge finalist programme since 2020 along with four other teams from Ballymena Academy; Castle Tower School, Ballymena; Cross & Passion Ballycastle and Magherafelt High School. The Omagh Academy team impressed the judges with their understanding of the challenges to the climate posed by emissions, and their ability to convey in a practical and positive way, the steps farmers can take to mitigate the impact of livestock production to produce sustainable beef for consumers.
Ballymena Academy were Runners-up at the awards ceremony which was held today (28th October 2021) in the Logan Hall, Balmoral Park. Their research assignment explored ‘future-proofing beef farming through technology’. Meanwhile Castle Tower’s team and their teacher received a Highly Commended award for how they brought their passion for farming to life. Two pupils were also singled out for individual awards. Ruth Sheppard from Magherafelt High School won the award for Outstanding Achievement by an Individual and Jessica Livingstone from Ballymena Academy was given a Judges’ Special Merit award.
The Minister for Education, Michelle McIlveen MLA attended the event as Guest of Honour. In her speech she congratulated the award winners and all the finalists for completing their 18-month agri-skills development programme. The Minister said,
“The ABP Angus Youth Challenge is a wonderful example of school / employer engagement and activity. It demonstrates a shared interest in, and shared responsibility for, the future of the young people involved. Through collaboration there is a mutual benefit for both the young people and for employers who share their expertise with the future workforce. I have no doubt that the ABP Angus Youth Challenge has and will continue to enhance the learning experiences and employability skills of the young people involved.”
The competition is delivered by the agri-food company ABP in partnership with the Northern Irish Angus Producer Group. Presenting the Omagh Academy team with a cheque for £1,000 for their school, Managing Director of ABP in Northern Ireland, George Mullan said, “We introduced the ABP Angus Youth Challenge so that young people could gain skills and a practical experience of our sector. Notwithstanding the pandemic, we were determined that the ABP Angus Youth Challenge would continue to nurture the skills and experience necessary for the world of work.”
22 new teams from 14 post primary schools were also in attendance at the Logan Hall to compete for a place in the next finalist programme. They had to exhibit their ideas to an independent panel of agri-food and education professionals. The displays ranged from carbon sequestration and soil health to medical applications of animal by-products and the nutritional comparisons of a vegan versus a flexitarian diet. The teams that go through to the next stage will be announced next month. George Mullan added, “ABP is delighted to have a record number of new teams enter the Challenge this year. Their interest is a strong signal of the value they, their teachers and parents see in the competition as an enhancement to their studies.”
