Degree: “I am a third-year agricultural science student at Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) with an eye for livestock and machinery.”

Travel: “In January, I will make a trip to New Zealand with 16 weeks of professional work experience to be gained as part of my degree. I will be working on an 800-cow dairy farm with 4,000 acres of tillage, located on the South Island. With 25 classmates also making the trip, New Zealand proves to be a popular destination for WIT students.”

Our farm: “We run an intensive calf-to-beef system on our 200ac farm near Ballyroan in Co Laois. We buy in 250 dairy-bred calves each spring and finish nearly all of them under 22 months. We kept sucklers up until 2015, but decided to make the switch due to the high costs involved with maintaining the beef cow. We do all machinery work ourselves and a small bit of contracting for neighbours.”

Seán Doyle and his family buy in 250 dairy-bred calves every year since they switched away from sucklers.

The WIT edge: “WIT has given me a great understanding of how our food is produced through science-based lectures and on-farm experience at Kildalton College. This time spent on a working farm is what gives us a practical edge over the rest.”

Experience: “I love the practical side to agriculture and the hands-on approach to learning. With experience in relief milking, I help neighbouring dairy farmers at the weekends. The past two summers I spent working in the UK for the harvest. This was an experience I highly recommend to other students, as I picked up many machinery tips and a good judge for crops.”

Future goals: “After completing my agricultural science degree with WIT, I would like to explore careers in farm advisory, agri-finance or potentially lecturing. It’s possible we may switch to dairy farming in future, but we’ll have to look at how beef prices fare out in the meantime.”

Quotable quote: “The calf to beef system is the next best thing to dairying. There’s a big difference between a good and bad dairy calf, but the system works well when you know what to look for.”

Are you the next generation of Ireland's agriculture sector? Get in touch and tell us your story by emailing news@farmersjournal.ie