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Ag Science Trip.

On the 15th of March our Ag science class went to the Farmers’
Journal farm in Tullamore Co. Offaly, in conjunction with Agri
Aware farm walk and talk.

We also visited a piggery in Carrickboy Co. Longford and a Lely
Robotic Dairy Farm in Arvagh, Co. Cavan.

On the farm in Tullamore we were greeted by Justin McCarthy
and informed about the farm and why they had taken on such
a big commitment.
We were divided into groups and brought around the farm to
different stations and told about the routine of the farm, animal We then visited a farm in Arvagh, Co. Cavan, where Michael
nutrition, grass growth, farm safety, sheep production, bull beef milks 150 dairy cows and uses a system of robotic milking. He
production and the suckler herd. When we were finished on the has 150 cows and uses zero grazing, bringing in the grass to feed
farm we visited the piggery of Donal Brady in Carrickboy. them as his land is quite bad and he cannot let the cows out.
He brought us on a tour of the farm and showed us each piggery He finds that the robotic milking gives him more time and can
house and how the farm operates and explained the purpose do much more than when he was milking without it. He uses a
of the different houses. He has 28,000 pigs and 1,000 cattle. Lely Robotic and also has a Lely Discovery for scraping the slats.
He fattens all his pigs and keeps females for replacements for He looks at the milk yield of each cow on a computer and can
sows. He kills his pigs in Rosderra in Edenderry. He employs 40 see the performance of each cow and can control disease and
workers to keep the farm running. how many times his cows have been milked.

French Film

Competition

Students in 2nd year and Transition Year entered a film
competition organised by the French Teachers Association
of Ireland. They wrote, directed, acted in and edited a
short film in French.

20 The Royal Times 2017-2018