Tullamore Farm welcomed over 300 students through its gates on Thursday 29 February to give secondary school agricultural science students a flavour of the practical aspects of farming.

This farm walk and talk was Agri Aware's latest event as part of its nationwide series.

Travelling from as far as Ballymahon in Longford and Scariff in Co Clare, students made their way around to 12 stands where Irish Farmers Journal speakers talked about everything from grassland management to careers within the sector.

Tullamore Farm manager Shaun Diver gave the students a flavour of the sheep side of the farm, explaining to students how 260 ewes will begin to lamb from 10 March onwards.

He outlined how the current lamb price (€7.70/kg) is quite high due to supplies being tight. However, he stressed that because this is a mid-season lambing flock and lambs may not be factory-fit until July or August that it is key that price doesn't drop too much when more supply comes on the market.

AI breeding

Similarly, our pedigree reporter Shanon Kinahan gave the students a rundown of cow indices and breeding methods used. She highlighted why Tullamore Farm uses AI only during breeding and the types of bulls used.

Other speakers also shared their expertise in areas such as tillage, dairy-beef, agribusiness, careers in agriculture, farm buildings, veterinary, grasslands and machinery.