Three South Tipperary farms shortlisted for Bord Bia awards 

Three South Tipperary farms have been shortlisted for Bord Bia's Origin Green Farmer Awards. 

Dairy farmer Edwin Thompson and beef farmer Noel Farrell both from Golden and Clune Mushrooms from Clonoulty have been shortlisted for awards. 

The biennial Bord Bia awards recognise the exceptional performance achieved by members of its Sustainable Quality Assurance schemes for beef, horticulture and dairy.  These schemes are pivotal to differentiating Irish food products in the global marketplace.

Participating farms 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 this Wednesday, December 12. 

Ireland is the first country in the world to audit and carbon footprint its livestock farms under the Origin Green Programme. Bord Bia currently audits farms at a rate of 650 a week, under what is in effect a national programme providing measurement and feedback to farmers for continuous improvement 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.

Edwin Thompson, has been nominated in the large dairy herd category of the awards. He is based atKilmore House,  Golden and supplies Tipperary Co-op. He milks 142 pedigree Holstein cows on his farm.

Beef farmer Noel O’Farrell from Rathgallen, Golden has been nominated in the Suckler to beef category. Noel keeps a herd of continental breed sucklers on his farm and finishes his cattle between 16 and 18 months.

Philip Fryday and brother Andrew of Clune Mushrooms are finalists in the awards news horticulture category. The Clonoulty based mushroom farm was first established in 1999. The farm produces high quality brown mushrooms from 16 tunnels and currently employ 20 people.  

Bord Bia CEO Tara McCarthy paid tribute to thefinalists' achievements. “The farmers chosen as finalists are already regarded by the industry as being among the very best.”