The Irish Dairy Farming National Quality Milk Awards 2018 took place last week in Dublin with presentations to nine of Ireland’s top dairy farms by Michael Creed, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
The judges for this year’s awards were Dr Jack Kennedy, dairy editor of the Irish Farmers Journal, Pat Wall, a professor from UCD and, David Gleeson from Teagasc.
Clodagh McKenna, chef and food writer, was once again food ambassador for the 2018 awards.
The winners received a prize of €5k and the coveted NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards perpetual cup.
“The farmers who are nominated for the NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards are representing milk pools of hundreds or sometimes even thousands of dairy farmers in their own co-ops,” said Creed.
Judges Criteria
For each of the nine farms, the judges detail the combined fat and protein percent for each month of the year, the total volume sold from the farm, the weighted average somatic cell count (SCC) and the total bacteria count (TBC).
These results, along with other additional factors and details considered, would lead to formulating the decision of the winning farm.
“The Quality Milk Awards judging is one of the highlights of the year for the judging panel. We get to travel the length and breadth of Ireland and visit family farms that are delivering excellence every year. Nineteen farms were nominated this year and nine were shortlisted for a farm visit,” said Kennedy.
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Maria Cabecos. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
