Agri Aware and Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB) are delighted to announce that Sean Duffy from Virginia College has been crowned the national winner of the Intro to Ag Transition Year programme.

Farmer and entrepreneur Kaleb Cooper was one of the special guests at the Intro to Ag Fair yesterday, Monday, 13 April at the Aviva Stadium.

Sean Duffy’s project on vacuum silage making was one of 14 projects presented across six schools and was chosen as the National Winner of the programme by judges who were impressed by the project’s innovation, the model developed to demonstrate the idea, and the strong delivery of the overall presentation.

The Intro to Ag Transition Year (TY) programme is designed to encourage students to take Agricultural Science for Senior Cycle, while also introducing them to Further Education and Training (FET) pathways, and career opportunities within the agri sector.

This unique event showcased the learnings from the programme, while also demonstrating to stakeholders in the agri-food sector the work Agri Aware and LOETB are actively implementing in this area of second level education.

As part of his guest appearance, Kaleb sat down and spoke about his journey to date from becoming a farmer and contractor in the Cotswolds, to appearing on the hit Prime Video series ‘Clarkson’s Farm’ and to travelling to the other side of the world sharing his story from humble beginnings to worldwide fame which has helped to shine a light on the agricultural sector in the UK and further afield. Kaleb was joined by beef and tillage farmer and YouTube sensation Philip Stewart, otherwise known as ‘Farmer Phil’, while Katie Gleeson also known as ‘Katie in the Country’ chaired the insightful panel.

Speaking after the conclusion of the Intro to Ag Fair, Agri Aware Chair Shay Galvin said: “Congratulations to Sean Duffy from Virginia College on being crowned National Winner of the Intro to Ag programme. The winning project showed significant thought and effort in addressing an issue that many farmers face. It clearly reflected the core aim of the Intro to Ag programme which is to encourage students to explore and develop an interest in agriculture.”

Also commenting at the Intro to Ag Fair event was LOETB’s FET Director Tony Dalton who said, ‘The standard of projects presented on the day was exceptional, with some really innovative ideas in the room. Huge congratulations to Sean from Virginia College. What’s particularly encouraging is that a large proportion of participants came from non-farming backgrounds. The sector needs this level of innovation and diversity of people. The aim is for this programme to serve as a catalyst in increasing interest in Agricultural Science at senior cycle, and ultimately encourage progression into further and higher-level agricultural education programmes- helping to build a strong and sustainable pipeline of talent in agriculture.”