Dairygold announces winners of its annual milk quality awards
DAIRYGOLD milk suppliers Denis, Nora and Michael Lordan of Newcestown, Bandon, were declared the overall winners of the 2019 Dairygold Milk Quality Awards and winners of the Mid Cork region for consistently supplying the best quality milk to Dairygold in 2019.
Denis, Nora and Michael formed a family partnership a number of years ago with all three family members working very well together to milk 95 cows on a milking platform of 33 hectares.
Michael has experience working on dairy farms in New Zealand having completed his two year agriculture course in Darragh Agri College.
The Lordans also rear replacements and some beef animals on an outside block of land. Sustainability is a key consideration for the Lordans on the farm and was evident through the use of low emissions slurry spreading, soil testing, milk recording and selective dry cow therapy.
The judge declared that while all three finalists in the region demonstrated exceptional quality, the Lordan family farm was an excellent example of what attention to detail and excellent milk and wash routines can achieve.
He praised the Lordans for their successful working relationship and focus on sustainability throughout the farm.
Speaking about the awards, Dairygold Chairman John O’Gorman said; “The success of our products across the world depends on our excellent quality of milk. These awards give us an opportunity to recognise the hard work and effort of our milk suppliers in helping us maintain the excellent standards expected of us while also recognising the efforts made to ensure the sustainability of our industry.
“The Lordans have shown that if we work together, we can achieve fantastic results.”
Dairygold Chief Executive Jim Woulfe added: “It is a testament to the hard work of our suppliers that we are on track to reach 1.425 billion litres of milk, an increase of more than 35 million litres on 2019 even with the considerable challenges the year has presented.
“The average quality of our milk supply also improved which highlights the ethos of continuous improvement across our milk supply base. In recognition of the efforts to continuously improve milk quality, we paid out some €5.5million over the year in quality bonus payments.”
The Awards were based on 2019 milk quality data for all 2,700 Dairygold milk suppliers. A shortlist was drawn up of three suppliers from each of the six Dairygold regions. These 18 finalists underwent adjudication by Don Crowley, Teagasc dairy specialist.
While adhering to Covid-19 protocols, the judge visited all six shortlisted farms to review their farm enterprises first-hand. The review took account of milk quality, dairy facilities, herd health and welfare, sustainability and general efficiencies and farm health and safety.