Two Mid Louth farmers nominated for Bord Bia’s Origin Green Farmer Awards
TWO beef farmers from Mid Louth, Richard Lynch from Ardee, and Joe O’Reilly from Togher, have been shortlisted in Bord Bia’s Origin Green Farmer Awards. The biennial awards recognise and reward the exceptional performance being achieved by members of its Sustainable Quality Assurance schemes for beef, horticulture and dairy. These schemes are pivotal in differentiating Irish food products in the global marketplace.
Richard and Joe’s farms, along with the 37 other finalists, meet high standards around hygiene, farm safety, traceability, animal welfare, remedy use and commitment to their locality. The overall category winners will be announced at an awards ceremony at The Heritage Hotel, Killenard, Co. Laois on Wednesday 12th December.
Richard from just outside Ardee, is nominated in the dairy calf to beef production category. Having previously run a suckler herd, Richard changed enterprise a few years ago due to his contracting business. The farm rears dairy calves and brings them to finish as bull and heifer beef.
Joe runs a suckler to beef farm which consists of predominantly Limousin and Simmental suckler cows. The farm also has a substantial tillage operation which grows most of the cattle feed for the farm.
With the Origin Green programme, Ireland is the first country in the world to audit and carbon footprint its livestock farms, currently at a rate of 650 a week, under what is in effect a national programme providing measurement and feedback to farmers in how they farm sustainably. The results represent a unique selling point for Irish food exports, proving that farmers are operating with due care for the surrounding environment, resulting in a low *carbon footprint.