From our member, Smiltene Technical School in Latvia:
Students of Smiltene Technical School represent Latvia in the European Young Farmers’ Competition in Paris
Last spring, shortly before the usual daily routine was interrupted by the pandemic, Smiltene Technical School students represented Latvia, participating in the European Young Farmers’ Competition in Paris. At the event, they were the only students from Latvian vocational schools.
The jury evaluated the performance of Latvian students with 80 and 61 points, ranking them in 16th and 54th place, respectively.
First place in the agricultural sector’s competition of young professionals “Livestock breeding”
Smiltene Technical School students won the first place in Latvia in the professional mastery competition! The competition was organized by the State Education Development Agency in cooperation with the LLU training and research farm “Vecauce” in order to find out the best future young professionals in the field, promote the attractiveness of vocational education, and improve cooperation between employers and educational institutions.
Internship at the Latvia’s University of Agriculture (LLU) study and research farm “Vecauce”
Smiltene Technical School’s first year students, in the first month of the academic year 2020/2021, went on practice on the study and research farm “Vecauce” of the Latvia’s University of Agriculture (LLU).
During the internship, the young people got acquainted with different breeds of cattle, participated in milking and preparation of feed in accordance with the breed and other requirements. “Vecauce” is engaged in the preservation of the gene pool of Latvian brown cows. Therefore, the students were especially interested in getting acquainted with the cows of this breed and their care. During the internship many of the students participated, for the first time, in the care of beef cattle, as well as in the robotic milking of Latvian blue and other dairy cows.
The aim of the practice is to acquaint future specialists with the daily life of a cattle farm, from the most simple tasks right down to the responsibilities that will be their – the graduated new specialists – responsibilities later on.
Acknowledgements: many thanks to Smiltene Technical School, EUROPEA-Latvia and Ilze (LV) 🙂
Photo: from Ilze (LV)
Featured image: Pixabay Free Images
