The Irish Aberdeen Angus Association and Aberdeen Angus Cattle Society have selected their youth team to compete at next year’s World Angus Forum in Brisbane, Australia.

The selected teams will compete against other teams from participating countries, in a range of agriculturally based competitions, which are designed to be fun, challenging and will undoubtedly be a remarkable networking event, surrounded by like-minded individuals from across the world.

The teams will comprise of a senior team, which will train and assist the youth team. Selected as part of this were Catherine Smyth, Sean McEnroe and Maddie Clarke. Both Catherine and Sean are Co Meath-based and competed in a number of age categories at both YDP workshops and finals.

The youth competition team is also heavily Irish-based, with James Morrison, John Smyth, Ellie Westaway, Graeme Rhind and Oisin Keogh selected as the successful candidates. Again, these come with a wealth of experience, with category winners at finals over the last number of years.

Over the course of the next year, the teams will undergo several training workshops and get mentorship from the best in the business, giving them every chance of success on the world stage.

World forum

The World Angus Forum 2025 will kick off in Sydney on 29 April 2025, with a welcome cruise on Sydney Harbour, followed by a seven-day pre-tour, before arriving in Brisbane. The pre-tour will include an Angus Expo at AELEC, Tamworth, which will be the largest showcase of Angus cattle and genetics in Australia.

Following the two-day Forum in Brisbane, there will be a post-tour to finish what is anticipated to be the biggest Angus celebration in Australia’s history.

Youth finals

As previously highlighted in the Irish Farmers Journal, the Irish Aberdeen Angus Association and Aberdeen Angus Cattle Society annual final this year comes to Ireland, taking place at the end of September in Thurles. If you or someone you know is interested in taking part, be sure to attend one of this year’s workshops throughout Ireland.

Even if it’s not to compete, the workshops offer hands on experience around working livestock, shows, judging and much more. The next workshop takes place at Liss Aberdeen Angus in Co Meath on Saturday, 15 June. This is followed by the Munster workshop at Westellen Angus in Co Cork and the Connaught workshop at the Gortnalon herd in Co Galway. To register interest in attending, please contact the Irish Aberdeen Angus Association.