The requirement for the red meat sector to attract young people from all backgrounds remains an absolute priority.
This is according to George Mullan, managing director of ABP in Northern Ireland.
He told Agriland: “The beef and lamb sector has a tremendous story to tell. Consumers today want protein of the highest quality as an integral part of their diet.
“And red meat is uniquely placed to meet this requirement.
“The opportunities to further develop beef and sheep production and processing on a sustainable basis are immense.
“But we need young people from every walk of life committing to a career within the industry to make all of this happen.”
The red meat sector representative spoke at the recent 2025 ABP Angus Youth Challenge awards.
Mullan confirmed the continuing success of the competition.
He said: “This is based on the fact that the entrants really enjoy it, particularly when they get into the day-to-day management of their entries.
“They also find out from an early stage that the competition is not just focussed on agriculture.
“It is more about how they present their ideas and talk to people about their thinking.”
Angus Youth Challenge
According to Mullan, the competition attracts a “certain type of young student”.
“It’s not necessarily about those students that excel at sports or speech and drama,” he explained.
“What is does do is allow those young students taking part to develop a range of communication skills over a period of months.
“This has been so obvious since the competition was launched and it’s wonderful to see.”
Mullan firmly believes that the Angus Youth Challenge is, uniquely, encouraging young people from all walks of life to look at farming and food as a successful career opportunity.
He said: “The competition format also allows ABP to give the competing teams an insight into what is taking place within the farming and food sector. This is very important for us.
“The competition format also allows those taking part to get a sense of the courses available from the likes of CAFRE (College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise) and Queen’s University.
“And then they get to learn that are so many job and career opportunities available within Northern Ireland’s agri-food industry.”
Mullan explained why the ABP places so much importance on the Angus Youth Challenge.
“Recruiting young people to join our industry is absolutely paramount for our future,” he said
“Looking ahead, we will not be successful unless we can recruit and the brightest and the best coming through the educational system.”
