West Cork leads way with new schools initiative

BY MARTIN CLAFFEY

A NEW initiative by farmers in West Cork is giving children from local schools a taste of the real farm life.

The pilot farm visit scheme, which has been backed by Carbery, is seeing eight schools from across West Cork get an opportunity to experience of what true Irish farm life is all about.

Four farm families are the driving forces behind the pilot programme – John and Veronica Cullinane in Ballineen, Sean and Fionan Deasy in Timoleague, Denis and Colette O’Donovan in Glandore, and John and Marie Hurley in Dunmanway. This means that there is a link with farmers from Bandon Co-Op, Drinagh Co-Op, Lisavaird Co-Op, and Barryroe Co-Op.

The young people got a chance to walk the fields and experience the farm life.

John Cullinane said they came up with the idea of bringing children to their farm to try show what life on the family farm is all about.

‘The idea had been in my head for about three years,’ said John. ‘I got in touch with the other farmers and everyone was so enthusiastic.

‘We sat down with Carbery and it hadn’t been done anywhere in a structured fashion so we said we’ll be the first.’

In a world where farming has been in focus for negative environmental issues, John said it was important to the families to try to show how so many farmers in West Cork and beyond were championing the environment.

The first farm visits saw fifth and sixth class at St Mary’s National School in Enniskeane and transition year students from Presentation College Secondary School in Bandon. John says that the young people who took part were brilliant.

Presentation Bandon students on the farm visit.

‘When we started I didn’t give them anything in their hands or anything to take away their attention because I wanted them to use their senses – to experience the sounds, the smells of the farm.

‘We went through the whole process, from the earthworm to the grass, to the cow to the milking parlour, all the way through to the food on their plate.’

Louise Kelly of Carbery Group said the initial tours were ‘extremely positive’. ‘The way society has changed, many of these children are living in rural areas but they don’t have any connection to farming. The visits were just really informal. The kids were engaged, and asked loads of questions. It was a new experience for most of them.’

A chance to check out the milking parlour.

She said that there’s a lot of misunderstanding about Irish farming and many young people are learning about dairying and farming practices in other countries via social media and believe that the same system exists in Ireland. The farm visits are an opportunity to show how the Irish grass-based outdoor grazing system is a world away from methods practised elsewhere.

‘There’s a lot of frustration for farmers in how farming is represented. This was an opportunity to show what they do and the sense of pride in what they do.’

The farmers are doing all of the visits in a voluntary capacity. On the first visit Bandon Co-op staff supported on the day, had their milk lorry there, and covered the costs of transport for the schools. All 4 co-ops will continue to do this throughout the programme.

Carbery provided a demonstration, cheese-tasting, and goody bags for the students and Carbery’s farm sustainability manager supported farmers with the tours.

After a successful start, further schools lined up so far include Glandore NS, the boys school in Dunmanway, and Darrara primary school in the spring. The pilot scheme includes eight schools – two from each co-op area.

And judging by the early feedback, this is a programme which could grow and grow.

Leaving Cert students turn theory into reality

STUDENTS at Mount Saint Michael Secondary School in Rosscarbery were also down on the farm as they used their visit to tie with their Leaving Certificate studies.

Farmer Donal Tobin facilitated the visit with teacher Enda Favier. The students are studying agricultural science, and they got an opportunity to visit Donal Tobin’s farm just outside the town.

‘Some of these young people aren’t forma farming background. This was a chance for them to put theory into reality,’ said Donal. Sustainability is a key consideration for farmers these days and Donal showed them some of the technological advances in use on the farm, from solar power to automatic feeding machines. ‘We have an emphasis on sustainability, technology, and labour efficiency,’ said Donal.

The Mount St Michael students got a chance to see what they had been studying in real life. ‘Many of them are not from a farming background. One of them said they had never really seen a cow up close,’ said Donal.

‘They saw the milk tank with the milk in it. They saw protected urea. A bag of fertiliser is a simple thing but they are learning about this in school but this was a chance to see exactly what it was and how it is used,’ he said.

The pupils also saw the silage - in fact they had tried to make their own silage as part of the school programme, though not quite with the success on the Tobin farm!

Donal is a former chairman of Carbery and believes visits like the one by the Mount Saint Michael students gives them a better understanding of their studies but also of real life in the farm, and promotes sustainable farming in future.