I can be difficult to ignore the call the land. Peter Cooke has heard he works on his family's farm beside Thurles, Co Tipperary, gaged in dairy and beef farming could have done a lot of things but I couldn't stay in an office all day," he says. "I take pride in my work. I love to be out. It's definitely hard work but I think it's worth it to go out everyday to see your animals doing well and your crops doing well."
Cooke sees farming as "getting harder year by year. No ordinary Joe Soap would get by in this day and age without studying. In spite of this, he believes that farming is in the blood. He is the outright winner of the latest Bank of Ireland Farm Staft Awards. The second prize was awarded to Patrick Fenton, of Kilfinane, Co Limerick. Brendan O'Connor, of Lisnagry, Co Limerick, took third prize.
The three top prizes have a total prize budget of £4,500. They are awarded each year by the Bank of Ireland to encourage trainees of the Farm Apprenticeship Board to "strive for excellence and to pursue opportunities to become established in farming".
Today's farm environment is highly mechanised and quite technical. There's a lot more to milking and sowing than meets the eye. Up to 120 young people opt for a life on the land and a chance to study farm husbandry at the FAB each year. A total of 43 young people graduated last year from the FAB as farm managers.
Cooke says that today's farmer has to be "a secretary, a businessman, an accountant all in one as well as being a farmer."
The board is currently recruiting next year's students from the country's 11 agricultural colleges. It will be scheduling interviews in the coming weeks. Applicants must be at least 18 years old. They must have a pass certificate from a course at one of the agricultural colleges and they must have grade D in maths, in English or Irish and one other subject in any State second level examination. They must then pass the interview.
The chosen students will graduate two years later with a certificate in farm husbandry. A number then go on to management training in third year and graduate with a certificate in farm management.
THE course provides practical training in the skills and management of farming. Training takes place apprentices get work and management experience on at least three different farms over a three year period.
"The course is invaluable," says Cooke. "I gained a lot of experience. "I'm indebted to the three farmers I was with over the three years."
