500 dairy farm families will be recognised at the annual CellCheck Milking for Quality Awards, coordinated by Animal Health Ireland (AHI), on 27th November for their commitment to herd health excellence.
The awards, which are sponsored by FBD and are in their 12th year, recognise the excellence achieved by Irish dairy farmers in herd health, specifically those that achieve a consistently low somatic cell count (SCC).
Guests of honour at this year’s events are Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon TD and CEO of Coole Swan, Mary Sadlier. Ms Sadlier will give insights into how she forged her career and why Irish dairy is central to the global Coole Swan success story.
The CellCheck programme, coordinated by AHI, works with dairy farmers, co-ops, vets and all of industry, to increase the awareness and capacity to manage and prevent mastitis in Irish herds. The programme seeks to achieve a healthier and more productive herd, which contributes to increased efficiency and profitability on farms.
CellCheck Programmepmanager, Finola McCoy, said that this year’s award recipients ‘exemplify how excellence in dairy farming begins with getting the fundamentals right’. She stated that the “award winners are raising the bar for the entire dairy sector, with all of this year’s honourees achieving somatic cell count levels below 71,000 cells/mL – an outstanding result.”
Since the inception of the CellCheck Programme, the national average bulk tank SCC has reduced by almost 100,000 cells/mL, to an average of 173,000 cells/mL in 2024. This improvement in udder health in the national herd is helping to reduce antimicrobial usage, improve farm profitability and contribute towards reducing agri-emissions.
The winning dairy processors include Arrabawn Tipperary Co-op, Dairygold, Tirlán and North Cork Co-op.
