Quality Milk Awards
Aurivo suppliers honoured at Quality Milk Awards.
Two Aurivo milk suppliers were honoured at the NDC/ Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards this week. David & Kathleen Boland won an All Year Round Milking National Category Award, while Gerard and Frances Murphy, Shrule, Co. Mayo were one of five national finalists also commemorated at the awards ceremony.
The NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards aim to highlight and reward Irish dairy farming excellence. The Awards were described as ‘The Sam Maguire of Farming’ by farmer and former MEP Alan Gillis from Co. Wicklow, when he was awarded the top prize in 1986. Fourteen farms from eight counties were commemorated at the awards ceremony, including five national category prize winners and three farms which were highly commended by the judges for specific achievements. Speaking at the awards ceremony, Minister Tom Hayes commented “I am delighted to present these awards today and congratulate all of the winners and finalists on being such excellent ambassadors for the dairy farming sector. Their commitment and dedication to producing milk to these high standards reinforces the message that Irish dairy produce is world class. These finalists will have a key role to play as we move towards an era of dairy expansion in Ireland and towards achieving the targets set in the Food Harvest 2020 strategy.”
Bernard Brogan congratulated all of the national finalists on their success. “We have terrific dairy farmers here who consistently work hard to achieve & maintain high standards,” said Bernard Brogan. “It’s good to highlight Dairy Excellence through these national awards which highlight the access Irish consumers have to fresh and nutritious milk and dairy products. Interestingly, from an athlete’s perspective, research is supporting a role for milk and dairy in relation to various aspects of sports nutrition.”
“What we put into our bodies can affect our ability to train, to recover effectively and efficiently before the next training session and to perform during competitive games. A growing number of athletes are getting professional nutritional advice, which often deals with topics such as adequate carbohydrates, paying attention to protein intake and of course fluids and hydration,” said Bernard Brogan. “Milk and dairy can play an important role in the diet of an athlete, not only in helping address specific sports nutrition considerations; but also because you are consuming a food which provides a natural source of many nutrients, such as calcium.”
Aurivo CEO and Irish Dairy Board Chairman, Aaron Forde, said: “The NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards are an important acknowledgment of the unique knowledge base and excellent husbandry skills of Irish milk producers. They recognise the hard work of our farmers and their commitment to the rigorous standards and technical criteria necessary to produce top quality milk. The combination of our natural grassland, sustainable farming practices and the passion and dedication of our farmers and their families means we can bring quality products to markets around the world, with absolute confidence and pride.”
The expert judging panel – Professor Paddy Wall, Associate Professor of Public Health at UCD; Dr. Jack Kennedy, Dairy Editor, Irish Farmers Journal; and Dr David Gleeson, Milk Quality Research, Teagasc inspected all of the short listed farms and scrutinized the technical information and farm management practices supporting each farm’s consistently excellent quality milk standards. They also reviewed aspects of contemporary dairy farming ranging from sustainability and animal welfare to care of the environment.
