Carlow and Laois win big at the National Dairy Awards

CARLOW farmer Martin O’Reilly from Cappalug Dairy Farm won the Mullinahone Co-op Young Dairy Farmer of the Year Award at the annual National Dairy Awards in the Midlands Park Hotel, Portlaoise last week. Laois farmer Bruce Thompson from Camcloon Dairy took home the Kerry Dairy Ireland Biodiversity Dairy Farmer of the Year Award at the same event.

The awards were presented at a gala ceremony attended by 250 people and hosted by former minister of agriculture Ivan Yates. Twenty-one awards were presented on the night.

Martin milks 76 high EBI cows on a spring calving system on dry ground. The judges were impressed with how passionate he is about breeding and grassland management, and how hard he has worked to improve the farm over the last few years. Martin is a member of the Teagasc ‘Grass 10 programme’ and the IGA, Macra, Teagasc and Tirlan dairy discussion groups.

In the Biodiversity Dairy Farmer of the Year category, the judges were particularly impressed with how Bruce had altered his farming practices to allow a functioning eco-system to operate within a profitable functioning farm. He has completed a Nuffield scholarship, a diploma in the environment, agriculture and sustainability, joined AHI’s technical working group for parasite control, became the farmer member on the COWS steering group and become the Irish ambassador for SPARC. This was all done to develop and adopt changes on both his farm and to help others.

Another big winner on the night was Katie Gleeson from Templemore, Co Tipperary, who won Dairy Social Media Ambassador of the Year Award, as well as the overall AXA National Dairy Awards Champion. Known as ‘kateinthecountry’ on social media, Katie uses her platform to share the story of a family dairy farm in a relatable way. She has built a community that stretches far beyond farming circles where she shares honest stories about dairy farming, rural life and the bigger picture of what farming means to Irish society.

The Carbery Group picked up one of the biggest awards of the evening when it was named the PTSB Best Dairy Producer/Co-op of the Year.

The awards were founded in 2023 to celebrate the primary producers, the artisan producers, sector services and the dairy processors as an industry collective. They recognise the best of the Irish dairy sector and the passion, dedication, innovation and hard work of the people within the sector.