Laois Young Scientists discover pivotal dairy environmental findings

A pair of Laois schoolfriends will be carrying the flag for Laois at the upcoming BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.

Just one Laois science project out of 550 nationwide, was selected for the upcoming competitive show.

However friends Sarah Phelan and Doireann O’Connor, Transition Year students at Mountrath Community School, have a weighty project that could bring home awards to their county.

The girls who have been friends since they went to primary school in Castletown NS, both grew up on family farms and intend to pursue agriculture in their careers.

Their awareness of the negative impact that agriculture can have on the environment, brought about their study, and it has quite astounding results.

"We both wanted to find ways to make farming more sustainable. Farmers get a lot of blame for global warming. Obviously it has an impact, but farmers are the one sector that has to work with the environment, they are not trying to ruin it. If there is an easier way to protect it, they would definitely choose it. This is an easy way to help," Sarah told the Leinster Express / Laois Live.

Their wordily titled project is called Aquaculture- The Impact Of Crude Protein Supplementation On Dairy Cow Production and Nitrogen Excretion In Urine In Late Lactation and The Effects This Has On Irish Waterways.

Put simply, they have discovered that there is no advantage to feeding dairy cows a high protein diet, because any excess simply runs through them and can end up in rivers as poisonous nitrogen.

Sarah, daughter of dairy farmers Martin and Claire Phelan, explained why farmers are currently encouraged to add extra protein.

"Dairy cows are fed very high protein diets to boost protein in their milk which is more valuable. But we found you end up wasting a lot of it.

"Their diet needs 15 to 17% protein. A high protein diet gives them 40 to 50% protein. We did a study on six cows over three weeks, isolating them in a paddock and feeding three on a high protein soya bean diet at night, and three on a low protein diet of beet pulp."

They ran weekly tests on their milk for protein levels and their urine for nitrogen levels.

"We found that the cows on a low protein diet had a similar level of protein in their milk, only slightly lower. But there was a dramatic difference in the nitrogen in their urine (28% less). We are trying to show how a low protein diet has a better impact on the environment, but the farmer is still getting the same income," she said.

Doireann, whose parents Diarmuid and Orla run a beef farm, explains the damage that high nitrogen urine can do to the environment.

"Almost a fifth of waterways are Irish in poor or bad ecological status. Farming is having a huge impact on that. Our research found that nitrogen run-off from cows urine is one of the main factors polluting rivers, particularly in bad weather. It causes extra algae to grow which uses up the oxygen in the rivers and is devastating for aquatic life. It's very bad for people as well," she said. 

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They will be travelling to the RDS next Wednesday, January 11 and exhibiting until January 14, with the opportunity to talk to top politicial and business leaders as well as other students and media. There is also the chance of being awarded prestigious prizes.

"We can't wait. We're a bit nervous. But we are delighted and really proud to represent our school and the county. Especially in something we both have an interest in," Doireann said. 

They will be no strangers to any television cameras, as the girls' project was featured on a recent episode of RTÉ One's Nationwide, with presenter Blathnaid ní Chofaigh visiting the school to interview Sarah and Doireann.

The girls thanked their parents and their science teacher Kelly Walsh and Mountrath Community School for helping them. They also thank a local dairy grassland researcher who declined to be named, but helped them to perform their tests. 

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The exhibition returns to the RDS in Dublin from January 11 to 14, for the first time since 2020. This year, 550 projects from 212 schools from across the island of Ireland were chosen to exhibit.