LIMERICK’S finalists for the National Dairy Awards have been announced by the National Dairy Council.
Six Limerick people and projects have been nominated for the awards, which aim to highlight the cream of the crop of diary farmers, advisors, and vets.
Thomas Stack from Ballyagran has been shortlisted in the Kerry Dairy Ireland Biodiversity Dairy Farmer of the Year category for his work in using indigenous micro organisms to inoculate the soil on his farm, adopting the Korean Natural Farming method. This effectively means that he doesn’t need to use any external fertilisers to grow his grass.
In the Norbrook Dairy Vet of the Year category, Marie-Louise Ryan from Mulcair Vets has been shortlisted. Ms Ryan is aiming to improve animal health and productivity on farms by reducing antibiotic usage on farms throughout the county.
Martin Crowe of Doon has been nominated in the Best Dairy Advisor category, thanks to his work in making things on the farm run more efficiently in order to get jobs done faster and encouraging farmers to spend less time on the farm, while getting the same jobs done.
In the Cormac Tagging Dairy Discussion Group of the Year category, the Pathfinders Discussion Group, operating in Limerick, Cork, and Kerry was shortlisted.
Pathfinders Discussion Group has 18 active members who come together to discuss issues around cross breeding, white and red clover, robot milking and solar, among others, while making visits to local farms to see these issues or practices in action.
Croom’s Louise Crowley is nominated in the Green Acre Marketing Dairy Social Media Ambassador of the Year category.
Louise uses her social media profiles to show how dairy farmers produce food, explaining why there is a need to show the general public the realities of farming and to advocate policymakers to understand the importance of farmers to the country.
The award winners will be announced at a gala ceremony on June 13.
