Ballyhaise win inaugural Battle of the Colleges competition

Ballyhaise Agricultural College in Co Cavan are the winners of the inaugural Battle of the Colleges Young Shepherds Competition held at Sheep 2025 on Saturday last in Teagasc Mellows Campus Athenry, Co Galway.

The three-man team of Mark Philips, Co Monaghan and brothers Killian and Cian Crowe, Co Cavan, edged out on top in a hotly contested event, with Letterkenny College claiming second position and Clonakilty Agricultural College in third position.

There was very little to separate the teams and this also applies to the two teams gallantly representing Kildalton Agricultural College and a strong team from Mountbellew Agricultural College. The competition was sponsored by Irish Country Meats, who were also the main sponsor of Sheep 2025, and provided a €1,000 prize fund.

The winning team were also awarded the Denis Pey memorial cup by Denis’s brother Patrick. Denis worked in Kildalton Agricultural College where his passion for sheep farming and in particular sharing his experience of sheep farming shone through.

Individual accolade

Students were put through their paces across a range of practical and technical challenges including sheep handling, husbandry skills, selecting lambs for slaughter, carcase evaluation and a technical sheep knowledge quiz.

While it was a team event the individual performances of young shepherds who excelled in the tasks was also acknowledged with Dan McLaughlin representing Kildalton Agricultural College achieving the highest individual score followed by Killian Crowe, Ballyhaise Agricultural College and Dylan O’Leary, Clonakilty Agricultural College.