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CAFRE is Northern Ireland's College of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Enterprise, where students like to get their hands dirty.

Whether that's in farming... Come on now.

..food, flowers or foals. Come on, boy.

Set across three very different rural campuses,

all with world-class facilities,

here, it's not all about the classroom.

You are right in the thick of it.

That's a wee dote.

In this series, we follow some of the 1,700 students...

Excellent, well done.

..from the class of 2020.

Through the ups and downs...

The nerves are starting to kick in.

..of their academic year...

A healthy lamb, that's what you want.

..and see what it really takes to become

a custodian of the countryside.

It's September and the start of term at the equestrian campus

in Enniskillen.

Birthday boy Luke Norton from Longford is being dropped off

to the student house by his parents for his second year

of equine management, and his housemates have left him

a surprise.

Will I make your bed?

No, I can make my bed. Are you sure? Yeah.

You know the way I like to have things nice for you.

It's a happy house, it's very happy. And everything is cosy and warm.

And don't forget the books.

Yes. Yeah. You're in college now.

Remember that?

Have you more bags to take out?

Yeah, we brought two cars, Mum. OK.

It's an exciting year ahead for Luke as his class will get to play a huge

role in the management of the horse breeding unit.

This is his year because breeding is what he wants to do.

And that's what this year is about.

OK, Luke. Sure, call if you need to be fed.

Let me know that you're all right.

All right. OK.

Love you. Love you lots. Be good.

Work hard, learn lots.

Make sure you do. See you later, bye.

Let the fun begin!

50 miles away at the Loughry food campus in Cookstown,

preparations are under way for open evening.

They're hoping to attract next year's intake.

Located by the Killymoon River, Loughry first opened in 1908

as the Ulster Dairy School.

But for the last 25 years, it has focused on providing education

and training for the food industry.

Up in his college rooms,

20-year-old Jack Graham from Ballymoney is in his second year

of Food Technology, Manufacturing and Sciences.

I've always had an interest in food.

Whenever I was no age,

I was always poking my nose in when my mum was cooking,

you know, and seeing how everything gets on,

to the science and the actual production.

It's amazing what a product goes through

before it actually gets to the shelf.

The reason I came to CAFRE, it's got hands-on experience.

I'm a practical fella and each campus is like a mini family.

How are yous doing? Yous all right?

For me, I would struggle with exams.

You know, I like to be away doing something hands-on, you know.

So the connections with the industry and the facilities that we have,

they're just fantastic.

And today marks the start of Jack's kitchen trials

for the Chicken Challenge.

The class have been split into teams and each given 12 weeks to develop

a new chicken product that is nutritious, allergen free,

convenient and in sustainable packaging.

For their brief,

Jack's team have to make something tasty

out of waste product chicken liver.

At the Enniskillen campus, second year Luke

feels right at home here.

A huge estate in the heart of Fermanagh with 150 students

and 70 horses.

I've always had a huge interest in horses.

It's just come down through the family.

Come on!

I'm one of the first ones in the family to actually start

working with horses and kind of take the interest to the next level.

I got this, calm yourself.

Equine studies include the business of horses, breeding, riding, racing

and caring for the animals.

A far cry from Luke's schooldays.

School, for me was, you know,

it was kind of something that I had to do.

It was kind of a struggle to get out of bed in the morning

to have to go, whereas now I'm kind of like ready to go.

I want to come to college.

A passion for everything equine is essential for students here,

with mucking out first thing in their daily timetable.

We're up at the crack of dawn and it's not because we have to do it,

it's because we want to do it.

You know, there's such a broad range of students here, but everybody

has the one interest and that's, that's horses.

With the yards cleaned and grooming complete,

there's still one thing about working with horses that Luke finds

hard to get to grips with.

That's our pain in the arse.

Doesn't matter how much time you put into your hair the previous night,

or that morning, when you put that helmet on your head,

it's ruined for the day.

Just ruins the whole day!

From foals to flowers...

At the horticulture site in the Greenmount Campus

over in Antrim, the students are checking

on the growth of the poinsettias so that they'll be in peak condition

for selling at Christmas-time.

But it isn't only the plants on campus that are perfectly pruned -

the 180 dairy cows also require regular clipping.

A job that comes naturally to 33-year-old

mature student Leanne Green.

I'm using the hairdressing skills again.

Leanne was a hairdresser for 13 years before deciding

to follow her dream of farming.

Clippers is clippers at the end of the day.

Yeah, cattle is a wee bit easier to work with than clients!

Agriculture degree students Leanne and Katie

have been joined at the hip since they first met at Greenmount

two years ago.

Go in, nearly like you're angling her bone.

How we got close was, we milked together on New Year's Day,

at 4am, we were up here, milking cows,

while everyone was still partying!

We'll make a hairdresser out of her yet!

As well as getting hands-on with the dairy cows,

the students help manage

Greenmount's own beef and sheep farms.

There's a lot of people come here not off big farms.

And I was one of them.

And I never worked with sheep before till I came here.

Originally, we were both doing something else.

I'm just happy that I'm doing something I love now.

I just wish I came to Greenmount when I was 16.

Then again, you know, when you're 16, you think you know everything.

And I probably wouldn't have worked as hard.

The girls admit college has turned them both crazy for cows.

I recently started my own pedigree herd,

and Katie and I are going to Stirling in October to hopefully,

fingers crossed, get my second heifer.

She tries to get me out on loads of nights out,

and I'm like, "No, I'm milking tonight."

She's like, "Get it changed," and I'm like, "No, I have to milk."

Saving for the next heifer.

COW MOOS

I know, darlin'.

I love these cows.

October marks the start of the breeding and horse production

course where the second years experience life at a stud.

These thoroughbred and sport horse foals were born in the campus

six months ago. That's it, baby.

Under the expert guidance of lecturer Gail, Luke's class

have just six weeks to train the foals and prepare them

for auction at one of the most prestigious foal sales in Ireland.

How are you today?

Everything today is a new experience

for the foals, including equipment. All OK? Yeah, all good.

This is our first morning that we're going to be bringing them

out for officially to walk them.

A big part of it is making sure that they're settled with us.

Well done, well done. Just giving that animal reassurance constantly.

So we've a lot of work to do in building her up, making sure

that we're building muscle, we're putting it in the right place.

So that's down to the walkers.

And so it's off to the indoor arena for these aspiring racehorses

to learn how to strut their stuff in a ring for the first time.

Easy, whoa.

Easy.

That's it, good girl.

So from the foal's point of view, what we first want to see

when they come in is that there is a bit of connection

between them and the walker.

That's it, well done. The foal needs to realise

that the student's in charge, but we still want it to be a team work.

We don't want any aggression.

We want it to be a nice team effort from the two of them.

Praise is so important here.

Can you take them?

It's proving an intense morning's work for both

foal and student.

Well done.

And stand.

And stand, good girl.

Fitness levels are so important

because you've got to keep up with them.

You can't be the reason the foal can't walk on.

OK, you're not building up muscle.

If you're not hot and sweating, it's not working.

Luke, how do you think it went?

She walked well enough.

She was engaged.

She did really good.

I felt you had a good rhythm most of the time there.

Only five out of the 17 in the class

will be selected as walkers in the ring for the foal sales.

Luke knows he has a lot of work to do over the next month

if he wants to make the cut.

The main thing is that they are calm

when they're around us because we're going to be the ones

that are going be with them.

And a lot can happen between now and then.

And it seems a close bond has already been formed.

I've so much hair in my nose.

The October weekend that Greenmount student Leanne has been saving

up for has finally arrived.

She and best friend Katie are off to Scotland on a shopping spree,

but it's not a normal girls' trip -

they're heading to the annual bull sales in Sterling.

I've always been obsessed with the dairy industry,

but my teacher at Greenmount told me you need to think outside the box.

So I went to Carlisle in May

and bought my first pedigree shorthorn.

And she hasn't shut up about it since!

I have seen a heifer that I would really love.

She's the Victoria's Secret of the cow world, I think!

Hopefully the price is right,

but I paid over 3,000 for my heifer in May.

I'm putting a cap on her so she doesn't spend too much.

I keep her on the straight and narrow.

Make sure she isn't too...

She's the wild one,

with the spending.

Katie's my best friend and I'd be lost without her. Ah!

It's mid-term at the food campus.

Jack and his team are busy working together

on their chicken liver product.

Today, they're preparing to bring it to a panel of guest experts.

Jack's group have decided on chicken liver bhajis.

Yes, chicken liver bhajis,

which Jack is finding hard to stomach this morning.

Last night we had a wee bit of a get together.

It was all light-hearted fun.

I wasn't in bed until around...

..three, maybe 4.00.

Like, a cooking class after a night out is not

the nicest sort of mixture.

But it was fantastic.

I still made it in this morning.

Lecturer Emanuele is on hand for some last minute tips.

I believe that it was maybe slightly on the bland side,

but if we increase the saltiness a little bit,

just staying within the limits of the recommended guidelines for salt,

that could potentially be something to look into.

We'd be quite confident as a group, as a whole,

you know, it is a solid product.

One of the taste panellists invited along today is award winning

chef, Will Brown.

It certainly smells amazing, doesn't it?

They're coming on well, yeah.

A few speed bumps along the way.

We've managed to get here.

A nice local Northern Irish chicken liver bhaji!

It's a product that's definitely not used that often.

No.

Well, believe it or not, chicken liver is my signature dish.

Oh, wow!

No pressure. No pressure!

With just seconds to go, the team are feeling the nerves.

If they don't get good feedback on their product,

it will be an uphill battle before their final pitch in December.

It's scary, here yourself,

you've been working on the product for that long.

You think it's going to be absolutely fantastic.

But it's when you get to this stage,

it's a make or break situation.

Oh, dear.

Did the chicken liver bhaji tickle chef Will's taste buds?

I was very worried that the liver would've been lacking.

But the spice was there.

The texture was there.

It's great to see that young people in Northern Ireland are enjoying

working with food and developing new products.

There's not a lot of chefs out there in Northern Ireland

can make a better bhaji than that.

It's the best foals in the country that the equestrian students

are hoping to produce,

as the preparation continues for their sales.

Luke is desperate to prove he can walk the walk

and talk the talk in the ring.

Try and keep a little stiller.

You start treks at 7.30 and we're walking by eight.

So we need to be able to look after ourselves

to make sure that we can keep up with them.

With the foal sales just a few weeks away, lecturer Gail

is pleased with the progress.

They've definitely all got a better rhythm now when you're walking.

So with the foals, it's about making sure they're walking straight

and that the hooves are growing in the correct way

we want them to grow.

So today we had little gait analysis markers put on

the front of their hooves.

They basically then gather the data about how the foal's foot

was falling onto the ground and how far their stride length was.

We are watching their growth and development very much.

We're using a programme called Road Track and basically it monitors

the foal's growth and compares it to 30,000 foals around the world.

So amazing technology that is fantastic to use for the students.

All the students here are hoping they are the ones selected

to walk the foals in the ring at the auction.

The college will pick who they think suits the foal best.

So we're going to be busy, but everybody will have a role.

Halloween traditionally is a big deal for the second year students.

They have to organise a haunted walk to freak out the first years.

And for Luke, it's a chance to show off his make-up skills.

Yes, it's like a second little life that you can do.

When the girls go out, a lot of them would have asked me

to do them up for it.

Look how good it is.

You know, I'm not one of those people that wears make-up every day

or anything like that.

You know, there's plenty of people that are into it.

And, you know, you can kind of admire their confidence

for doing it.

I have gone in way too heavy with that!

In a nearby disused building,

the first years await their fate.

And Luke is ready for his targets.

I have a chainsaw, there's no blade on it.

but it gives the effect, the engine just lets rip.

So it's working well.

Yeah, we'll go together.

There's a person. How do you get out?

CHAINSAW WHIRS

SCREAMING

We got a good few first years scared at this stage.

We just got the college chef.

I'd no idea who she was but anyway, we got her.

It's November and budding food technologist Jack

from Loughry campus

is back home at his parents' house for the weekend.

You get spoiled rotten whenever you come home.

You may as well come home,

get pampered and then go back into rough student life.

Jack spends his Sundays catching up on college work, but he's taking

next month's Chicken Challenge pitch all in his stride.

The module that we're following at the minute

will have the actual pitch that you do to Moy Park

as a company, standing up, do a full presentation, and you just

talk them through the whole shebang.

So that's right up my street.

Mum would tell you that I wasn't a very sociable, outgoing child.

I was a very nervous critter, you know.

Then all of a sudden,

wow, here's me!

Ten out of ten, I have to say,

I'm quite the dab hand at the Sunday dinner.

Chuck us down the Shloer there.

Please. Pease.

You know what they always say, no matter what age you are,

your Ma can still beat you up!

Teach you some manners, isn't that right? Manners cost nothing.

100 miles away in County Meath,

it's the November foal sales at Tattersalls.

Ireland is the land of the horse.

It's a huge industry worth millions to the economy.

For the equestrian students,

preparing their foals for these sales...

Good boy, well done.

..has taught them every bit of the business.

Everything they've learned this term has been building

towards this moment in the ring.

And Luke has received the news he has been longing for -

he will be a walker in the ring.

It's good.

It's good to be told that you're going to be walking.

So this is Vibe.

We have just been told that I'm going to be walking

out in the ring. It'll all be over very quickly.

But it'll be good as well.

Like, there's been so much prep has gone into this

over the last few weeks.

This is kind of our final moment.

Well done.

To attract the best price possible,

it's important that both foal and walker put on a slick show.

I think I'll lose the glasses because I'd be BLEEP condensating.

Walk on, walk on, good boy.

Walk on, walk on, walk on.

Well done.

Good boy, good boy.

Vibe's sister, a yearling,

recently sold for £1,000.

But lecturer Gail is hoping for more here.

Easy, easy. Easy, easy.

I know, I know.

You're all right, you're a good lad.

Keep chatting to him, you're doing a great job.

AUCTIONEER CALLS

Good boy, good boy.

AUCTION CONTINUES

Well done, Sir.

Good boy.

Luke coped fantastically today.

Vibe wasn't easy at times.

He sold for 6,500, which is actually very good for him.

Luke is so enthusiastic.

You know, he listens to what you ask him to do

and he tries his heart out.

I come here every year and I have people in the industry going,

"Give me a blue person, I need somebody in a coat to walk them."

It's because they know that we've trained them right from the start.

It was a good experience, you know.

Yeah, no, I'm definitely proud.

You're OK.

I showed him off and I mean, he made me look good.

It's definitely going be weird going back because like, they were

in the box coming up and now we're bringing an empty box home.

Right, let's go.

There's a awful lot that went into that,

you know, getting to this stage.

And then it's just kind of all over within a matter

of 15, 20 minutes.

We've seen all these since they were just born.

It's a bit like, you know, they're not coming back with us.

Good boy, well done.

You'll just be hoping that he'll be well looked after

because they're certainly well looked after when they're with us.

Soon, Vibe will be off to start his new life across the water

in England, and after a successful trip in October to the Sterling

bull sales, Leanne finally has the heifer of her dreams,

home in County Down.

I was lucky enough to get a heifer called Ballnabrock Lovely Maya.

She did 30 days' isolation and she came home last Thursday.

She's doing great.

Maya, she was the second one that came into the ring,

and I just said, "No, that's my girl."

And so the hammer came down on her heifer for a price of £3,360.

My plan for the foreseeable is, I want to get her AI'ed

and get her in calf and hopefully show her next year.

If everything goes to plan, Leanne hopes to keep growing her herd.

Mummy was like, "No more sales, Leanne."

And Katie and I have actually booked to go back to Stirling

on February 1st, hopefully to get number three.

I was the girl that used to have a Chanel handbag.

I used to have Louboutin shoes.

See now? I'd rather spend the money on a heifer any day.

I mean it. I don't know what I was thinking.

Now I am working extra hard and I'll probably not get to see anybody

over Christmas to get my next one.

December means it's almost the end of the first term.

At the food campus at Loughry,

the Chicken Challenge is in its final stage.

Today, each team of students will present their product

to a judging panel from Moy Park,

one of Europe's top chicken producers.

The nerves are starting to kick in, it's getting very close now,

only a couple more minutes to go.

There is a lot at stake as the module contributes

to their overall course mark for the year.

The winning group will also receive a check for £250.

It's Jack's team up next.

Thank you very much.

It's a shaky start, but finally, after months of preparation,

Jack is ready to deliver.

So, good afternoon.

We are Karnataka Kitchen and we are here to present our product today,

bahjis.

By our third kitchen trial, we knew we had our product.

It's something new. It's never been done before.

It's bursting with flavour like a spice party on your tongue.

Very clever. Thank you.

You know, it is iron, vitamin A, vitamin B12.

That is a big selling point in terms of liver, you know?

Over and done with.

Christmas!

After an anxious wait, it's time to find out which group

is the winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Will the bahjis beat the naked nougats or the pulled fillets?

The results are in.

So, without further ado,

first place goes to...

..Karnataka Kitchen.

I want to steal with pride this product.

So you're going to see it on the shelf in a couple of years

unless yous get there first!

Fantastic day, great experience was had, all the feedback

they gave back was all very positive.

They said it was a great product, great flavour.

It's fantastic.

We'll go for a bit of chill time now!

This is Christmas-time started, this is a good, good start to it,

so long may it continue.

As winter takes hold, the busy first term comes to an end

at the three campuses of the countryside college,

and everyone is ready for the Christmas break.

At the agricultural campus at Greenmount,

the students' poinsettias are selling like hotcakes.

The foodie Loughry lot enjoy a trip to the Christmas markets in Belfast.

A good six weeks off for Christmas, so I can't wait.

Probably go and have a few pints of beer.

Have a good oul boogie.

And at the Enniskillen Christmas formal, it's a chance for the horse

students to let their hair down.

It's a nice little kind of wind down from the year

so far, because we've just been so busy with assignments that we got.

It's nice for everybody to get together

before they go off to Christmas.

And the back! Woohoo!

Look at this!

Next time on Countryside College...

It's spring term, which brings new life to the campuses.

And every time one of them moves,

I'm like, "Oh, this could be it."

And new experiences.

Sorry!

But none of the students could predict a global pandemic.

It's probably the most serious thing that's ever happened in my lifetime,

and my parents' lifetime as well.

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