Castletownroche farmer wins 2020 Dairygold Malting Barley competition
Castletownroche tillage farmer David O’Gorman, has been announced the overall winner of the 2020 Dairygold Malting Barley competition.
David, who farms just outside Castletownroche, consistently produces excellent quality grain while prioritising the environment by protecting all waterways and biodiversity while he farms his lands on the banks of the Blackwater river.
He is an advocator of good crop rotation, which includes protein beans in his case, all of which has earned him this prestigious title.
Farming on approximately 150 acres alongside his DGAS Agricultural Services business, David accredited his success to planning.
“I try and plan a year or two ahead making sure I’m rotating the crops and checking the soil to make sure I have good soil samples. I keep my machine serviced to a good standard too,”
David said.
With farming in the family, David told TheAvondhu that he learned a lot from his father, Thomas, who passed away about four years ago.
“A lot of people have said to me that I’m doing it the exact same way he did it and he always had good crops,” David added.
He also accredited the Castletownroche community, thanking many good friends and neighbours.
“Friends and neighbours have helped out a lot during the harvest season. I’d be really stuck without them,” David said.
Located along the River Blackwater, David said that the river has its ‘advantages and disadvantages’ meaning that maintaining winter crops can be difficult during the flooding seasons, whereas spring crops reap the benefits of richly fertile soil.
ATTENTION TO DETAIL
“David’s attention to detail is obvious and commendable. His planning, technical and machinery expertise as well as record keeping is very impressive.
His wealth of experience and knowledge of tillage and malting industries has stood by him in this year’s competition,” said Dairygold’s Head of Commercial, Seamus O’Mahony.
Last year the Bridgetown farm grew 35ac of Malting Barley, 14ac of beans, 42ac spring feed barley, 43ac winter barley and 16ac of winter wheat.
The beans are usually followed with winter wheat, then Winter barley and back to spring malting in year three, as he can manage the protein element of the crop with more certainty at that stage.
“Located in the picturesque Blackwater valley, special attention is given to all watercourses and careful management of hedgerows and riverbanks, all with view to protecting our environment and wildlife. This carefully balanced care of the environment confirms in our view, that he is the overall winner of the 2020 Dairygold Malting Barley Competition - he excelled in all scores,” Mr O’Mahony added.
Dairygold Co-Op Chairman John O’Gorman, congratulated David on his achievement and thanked all four finalists on efforts made throughout the year.
“It is very important that all tillage growers get the opportunity to showcase their sustainability credentials, the standards they achieve in husbandry and the contribution that they make to our business. As a company, tillage growers are a very important part of Dairygold’s business, and we remain committed to supporting and developing this part of our business into the future,” Mr
O’Gorman said.
Dairygold grower David achieved 3.2t/ac of high-quality Malting Barley on average in last year’s harvest and attributes a lot of his success to focusing on soil fertility down through the years.
Soil samples are taken regularly, and a crop nutrient plan is formed based on these results with advice from Margaret O’Callaghan in Fermoy and Area Sales Manager Michael English, ensuring optimum soil health for best results.
Speaking about the competition, Dairygold Tillage and Beef Business Manager, Liam Leahy said it is a great opportunity to showcase the standard of grain produced by the co-operative’s growers.
“The diversity of the contestants was impressive, varying from large specialist tillage farmers to relatively small mixed livestock tillage farms. All were committed to excellence. The traceability and authenticity of Dairygold’s Malting Barley augers well for the future sustainability of the product,” he said.