Cookstown High School rises to the ABP Angus Youth Challenge

There is now compelling evidence to confirm that the ongoing success of the ABP Angus Youth Challenge is encouraging more young people to consider a career in agriculture.
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A case in point has been the growing uptake of the GCSE qualification in agriculture, offered by Cookstown High School.

“We can cater for a maximum of 20 students, committing to Year 11 and Year 12 studies,” confirmed Robyn Stewart – who delivers the agriculture course at the school.

“And we are currently maxed-out in terms of the class numbers that we can handle.”

Cookstown High School’s winning team William Hamilton and John Mark McCrea (absent from the picture Ben Smyton) with from left Mr Agnew, teacher; Managing Director of ABP in Northern Ireland George Mullan; John Fegan, the team’s CAFRE Mentor and the General Manager of Certified Irish Angus, Charles SmithCookstown High School’s winning team William Hamilton and John Mark McCrea (absent from the picture Ben Smyton) with from left Mr Agnew, teacher; Managing Director of ABP in Northern Ireland George Mullan; John Fegan, the team’s CAFRE Mentor and the General Manager of Certified Irish Angus, Charles Smith
Cookstown High School’s winning team William Hamilton and John Mark McCrea (absent from the picture Ben Smyton) with from left Mr Agnew, teacher; Managing Director of ABP in Northern Ireland George Mullan; John Fegan, the team’s CAFRE Mentor and the General Manager of Certified Irish Angus, Charles Smith

She attributes the growing interest in the study of agriculture to the school’s strong association with the ABP Angus Youth Challenge. It’s a journey that began for three, forward-thinking students back in the autumn term of 2020 – ending with the tremendous victory that they secured just a few short weeks ago.

The winning team comprised: Ben Smyton, John-Mark McCrea and William Hamilton. Back in 2020 they were all Year 11 students at Cookstown High School, all studying GCSE agriculture under the careful tutelage of Robyn Stewart.

Their initial interest in the competition was sparked by conversations held with Robyn, who was very aware of its success, scope and impact that it had engendered in so many young students up to that point.

Speaking on behalf of the team Ben takes up the story: “I come from the town of Cookstown, but love farming. John-Mark and William live quite close to the town but have very strong livestock farming backgrounds.

Cookstown High School teachers Mr Agnew and Ms Stewart and pupils William Hamilton and John Mark McCrea receiving their winners cheque from George Mullan, Managing Director of ABP in Northern Ireland and Charles Smith General Manager of Certified Irish AngusCookstown High School teachers Mr Agnew and Ms Stewart and pupils William Hamilton and John Mark McCrea receiving their winners cheque from George Mullan, Managing Director of ABP in Northern Ireland and Charles Smith General Manager of Certified Irish Angus
Cookstown High School teachers Mr Agnew and Ms Stewart and pupils William Hamilton and John Mark McCrea receiving their winners cheque from George Mullan, Managing Director of ABP in Northern Ireland and Charles Smith General Manager of Certified Irish Angus

“All of us want to develop careers within agriculture. In the case of John Mark and myself, we both want to become vets.

“William decided to leave school after his GCSEs. He is now a student at CAFRE Loughry Campus.”

He continued: “We quickly agreed to focus our initial competition entry on the challenge of developing a sustainable farming industry.”

Ben, John-Mark and William believe passionately that a strong future beckons for agriculture in Northern Ireland. Making that work, they believe, will require farmers to be financially secure in to the future.

The winning team from Cookstown High School from left John Mark McCrea, William Hamilton and Ben SmytonThe winning team from Cookstown High School from left John Mark McCrea, William Hamilton and Ben Smyton
The winning team from Cookstown High School from left John Mark McCrea, William Hamilton and Ben Smyton

They also recognise the strong role that agriculture can perform in delivering for the environment and for communities everywhere.

“Social sustainability gets to the very heart of what farming should be all about,” Ben stressed.

The first stage of the competition required the Cookstown team to produce a three minute video presentation, reflecting the topics that interested them and their knowledge of Angus cattle.

This was followed-up quite quickly by an interview with five judges which took place online due to Covid restrictions at the time.

Cookstown High School's Ben Smyton, William Hamilton and John Mark McCrea pictured receiving their calves at Balmoral Park in June 2021 as finalists in the ABP Angus Youth ChallengeCookstown High School's Ben Smyton, William Hamilton and John Mark McCrea pictured receiving their calves at Balmoral Park in June 2021 as finalists in the ABP Angus Youth Challenge
Cookstown High School's Ben Smyton, William Hamilton and John Mark McCrea pictured receiving their calves at Balmoral Park in June 2021 as finalists in the ABP Angus Youth Challenge

The end result of this process was Ben, John-Mark and William being told that they had been shortlisted as finalists.

They received their calves from Certified Irish Angus and ABP in June 2021 at an outdoor ceremony held in Balmoral Park.

“When the weanlings arrived, they were averaging four months of age,” Ben confirmed.

“They were all in the range four to five months of age. The decision was taken to place the cattle with John-Mark. However, we all played our part in managing them.”

“In my own case, I got a summer job working on the McCrea farm.”

All the team members are very happy with the progress made by the animals over the past 17 months.

They were weighed regularly, averaging 680kgs at the end of October.

“The cattle will be slaughtered over the coming days, so it will be interesting to find out their final carcase weights.”

As part of their reward for being ABP Angus Youth Challenge finalists, the Cookstown High team members are given the proceeds from the sale to ABP of their five cattle.

While Covid may have put on hold some of the activities during 2021, Ben, John-Mark and William knew that they would still have a final report to submit, which would have to demonstrate the priorities that can help deliver a sustainable future for agriculture.

Obviously, this would require a lot of research. But above and beyond this the three team members wanted to involve all the students at the school plus the entire community of the Cookstown area.

Driving a lot of this was the use of social media with the team members using these platforms to profile their management of their calves.

But face-to-face contact was also critically important in this regard.

The Cookstown team invited local primary and secondary schools to learn more about agriculture and beef production by viewing the five Aberdeen-Angus cross calves they were rearing. The cattle were specifically exhibited on the grounds of the school for this purpose.

As part of this initiative, Ben, John-Mark and William were able to let the visiting students feed the calves and ask questions about how they would be reared. Such was the excitement and enthusiasm among the audience that most of them convinced their parents to bring them back after school finished.

This interest was further boosted with the whole agriculture and land use GCSE class visiting the host farm for a follow-up farm walk.

Teacher, Robyn Stewart commented: “These events tied in well with the team’s research on social sustainability and backed up their view that there was a deep rooted heritage and love of farming in their community.

“And this included people that don’t live on a farm themselves.”

This sense of giving back to the community was highlighted further when the Cookstwon team members organised a ‘Name the calf competition’.

“We opened this up to all of the students at the school. The response received was tremendous. When all the money donated was counted up we were able to donate £330 to Air Ambulance NI,” confirmed Ben.

“Every update on the progress made by the calves was posted on social media. This activity generated many hundreds of followers from countries around the world.”

For the record, the most popular calf names coming forward on the day were: Missy, Bear, Angus, Reginald and Lottie.

The team members were particularly keen to promote their work to a wider audience. So they took a stand at Clogher Valley Show, serving tasty samples of Aberdeen Angus steak to passers-by.

A key aspect of the ABP Angus Youth Challenge relates to the personal development opportunities provided for all the students taking part.

And Robyn Stewart is quick to confirm the benefit, where Ben, John-Mark and William are concerned:

“First off, the competition has greatly enhanced their levels of self confidence. Its format also provides unique opportunities for those taking part to improve their interviewand presentational skills.”

Getting to the final stages of the competition also provided the members of the Cookstown team with an opportunity to travel. Included in their itinerary was a visit to Belgium, which took place in June of this year.

Ben, John-Mark and William were joined by their fellow finalists from other schools on the trip.

While in Belgium the Cookstown team members presented their ideas on agricultural sustainability to representatives of the following organisations: the Flanders Farmers’ Union; ABP Belgium, the Northern Ireland Executive Office and Invest NI plus the UK National Farmers Union.

They also had the opportunity of visiting a farm on which both Belgian Blue and Aberdeen Angus cattle were used to manage an area of natural habitat. The Angus cattle were specifically chosen for this purpose.

‘Sustainable agriculture: delivering for the community’ was the over arching theme of the final project submitted by Ben, John-Mark and William.

All three boys are passionate about agriculture. In preparing their final submission, they wanted to bridge the knowledge gap between farmers who rear high-quality, grass-fed cattle and the consumer’s understanding of sustainable beef production.

Significantly, they identified that environmental sustainability was by far the easiest and most recognisable for both farmers and members of the public to understand. But, more than that, they also identified the fundamental principle to the effect that economic and social sustainability goes hand in hand with environmental sustainability.

Courtesy of their final report, they were also keen to highlight that four million people in the UK are employed in agriculture and the context of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture versus other sectors.

During their project they were able to demonstrate a ‘near zero’ approach to waste management: all of the fertiliser requirements on their host farm were met by the cattle and pig slurry produced within that business. Waste and leftover silage was sold to a nearby anaerobic digestion unit to be turned into bio-methane.

Meanwhile the ABP Angus Youth Challenge continues to gain greater momentum as one Northern Ireland’s elite school competitions.

In essence, it requires participating teams to demonstrate a unique mix of business acumen, innovation and flair while –at the same time – getting the chance to actually work with Aberdeen-Angus cattle.

ABP managing director for Northern Ireland George Mullan commented: “This competition challenges young minds to uncover the facts about beef production for themselves.

“It gives them the chance to actively experience and benefit from Angus beef farming and to develop the skills needed to work in our sector.

“I am delighted to see recognition continue to grow for the beneficial influence and impact the Challenge is having on a diverse range of young people and for the positive profile it is providing for agriculture as a subject or a career choice.”

That spotlight shines this year on Co Tyrone and the tremendous entry compiled by Ben Smyton, John-Mark McCrea and William Hamilton.

No doubt the Cookstown High School trio will inspire new Year 11 students in their school and other teenagers around the country to emulate their success.

The comments of the panel who interviewed the Cookstown team about their final report captures the very essence of what Ben, John-Mark and William set out to do almost two years ago to the day.

They said: “Farming and food production are in good hands with these three young gentlemen. They demonstrated maturity and leadership skills well beyond their years.

“In their project and through a very successful use of social media they were able to express with eloquence how their passion for agriculture is combined with a genuine respect for the environmental concerns of society.

“They supported their firmly held beliefs that farming is part of the solution to climate change by presenting a positive manifesto for agriculture with commitment and zeal.

“Their well-researched arguments about the importance of farming and food production in the UK and the positive role that agriculture plays in our community along with how to integrate concern for the environment into food production were truly inspiring.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​