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Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, presenting Michael Kennedy, Bridestown, Glenville with his award, 1st runner-up at the FBD sponsored Teagasc Student of the Year award, in the company of Christy Doherty, Head of Farm and Business, FBD (left) and Prof. Gerry Boyle Director Teagasc (right). Photo: John T Ohle Photography

The First Runner-up Award for the Teagasc/FBD Student of the Year has been awarded to Michael Kennedy from Bridestown, Glenville.

The awards, sponsored by FBD Trust for the 30th successive year, were presented by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD, in Dublin on Tuesday, May 12th.

Michael has completed a level 6 Advanced Certificate in Agriculture (Dairy Farm Management), at the Teagasc Agricultural College in Kildalton. He now manages the home dairy herd of 110 cows as his father is in fulltime employment off the farm.

Edward Payne from Castlerea in County Roscommon was announced as the 2014 winner of the Teagasc Student of the Year award. While Tomás Moroney from Coolishall in Ballyduff Upper, West Waterford was also one of the finalists in the competition.

Speaking at the award ceremony, Minister Simon Coveney congratulated the 13 finalists who were chosen from almost 800 students who completed agricultural training programmes with Teagasc in 2014.

“I congratulate all of the finalists on reaching this stage of the competition. It is a great achievement and a proud day for you and your families. The influx of so many enthusiastic, well trained young people is a very positive development for the agricultural sector, which will benefit greatly from your skills, knowledge and enthusiasm in the years ahead.”

TARGET

As a farmer, Michael Kennedy’s priority is to lift the current herd EBI without compromising fertility. He is putting a big emphasis on his HerdPlus report and particularly the EBI sub–indices for fertility, etc. He is applying knowledge gained at Kildalton to measure grass weekly and utilise the grass wedge for grass budgeting.

He is also using the Teagasc eProfit Monitor and maintains a comprehensive set of performance records. Michael is involved in two discussion groups and utilises the local Teagasc advisory service.

In congratulating all of the finalists, Director of Teagasc, Professor Gerry Boyle, said that he was impressed with the high calibre of student receiving the awards. “You have done extremely well and made full use of the opportunity that the education courses provide. It’s a proud day for you and your families. I would like to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of my colleagues in the Teagasc education service, in the Teagasc colleges, the private colleges and through the advisory service in the regional education centers,” he said.

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