Welcome to the special Focus on the Kerry Dairy Ireland Milk Quality and Sustainability awards shortlist for 2025.
The awards, now in their fifth season, provide an opportunity for Kerry Dairy Ireland to showcase, promote and celebrate all that is good about milk quality and sustainability within the co-op’s milk pool.
This year’s shortlisted candidates come from a range of soil types and farm sizes with dairy farmer contestants from right around the co-op’s catchment. I know it’s a cliché but to get this far in the competition is a big deal so all the finalists are winners in their own right. To be selected from over 2,800 milk suppliers is a big achievement.
Shortlisted candidates are identified based on their milk quality results both in terms of somatic cell count (SCC) and total bacterial counts (TBC) and also milk protein and butterfat per cent. They are also shortlisted based on their sustainability credentials identified through the Bord Bia audit and engagement with the co-op’s Evolve programme.
It is the job of the judges to visit each farmer and see firsthand what sustainability practices they have introduced on their farm and what they are doing to ensure high milk quality.
Remember, sustainability is more than environmental, it is also social, so the judges are keen to assess the farmer’s work/life balance. This is important from a health, welfare and safety perspective but also from a succession perspective too because young people won’t be enticed to work in an industry that is renowned for excessively long hours. Financial sustainability is the other leg of the sustainability stool.
This year’s finalists include:
Danny Bermingham, Doonbeg, Co Clare.
Michael Hickey, Caherconlish, Co Limerick.
John Casey, Causeway, Co Kerry.
John O’Connor, Currans, Co Kerry. 
Paddy O’Kelly, Dromcollogher, Co Limerick
This year’s judging panel includes Ailish Moriarty and Sean McCarthy from Kerry Dairy Ireland, Brendan O’Neill from Munster Technological University and myself, Aidan Brennan from the Irish Farmers Journal.
The winner will be announced on 12 August and will be featured in the 16 August edition of the Irish Farmers Journal.
Welcome to the special Focus on the Kerry Dairy Ireland Milk Quality and Sustainability awards shortlist for 2025.
The awards, now in their fifth season, provide an opportunity for Kerry Dairy Ireland to showcase, promote and celebrate all that is good about milk quality and sustainability within the co-op’s milk pool.
This year’s shortlisted candidates come from a range of soil types and farm sizes with dairy farmer contestants from right around the co-op’s catchment. I know it’s a cliché but to get this far in the competition is a big deal so all the finalists are winners in their own right. To be selected from over 2,800 milk suppliers is a big achievement.
Shortlisted candidates are identified based on their milk quality results both in terms of somatic cell count (SCC) and total bacterial counts (TBC) and also milk protein and butterfat per cent. They are also shortlisted based on their sustainability credentials identified through the Bord Bia audit and engagement with the co-op’s Evolve programme.
It is the job of the judges to visit each farmer and see firsthand what sustainability practices they have introduced on their farm and what they are doing to ensure high milk quality.
Remember, sustainability is more than environmental, it is also social, so the judges are keen to assess the farmer’s work/life balance. This is important from a health, welfare and safety perspective but also from a succession perspective too because young people won’t be enticed to work in an industry that is renowned for excessively long hours. Financial sustainability is the other leg of the sustainability stool.
This year’s finalists include:
Danny Bermingham, Doonbeg, Co Clare.
Michael Hickey, Caherconlish, Co Limerick.
John Casey, Causeway, Co Kerry.
John O’Connor, Currans, Co Kerry.
Paddy O’Kelly, Dromcollogher, Co Limerick
This year’s judging panel includes Ailish Moriarty and Sean McCarthy from Kerry Dairy Ireland, Brendan O’Neill from Munster Technological University and myself, Aidan Brennan from the Irish Farmers Journal.
The winner will be announced on 12 August and will be featured in the 16 August edition of the Irish Farmers Journal.
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