Cappawhite farming family wins top National Dairy Council award

A dairy farming family from Cappawhite has won one of the top awards at the 2019 National Dairy Council (NDC) and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards.  

 Ailbe and Denise Ryan and their four children from Cappawhite won the Best Milk Solids - Manufacturing Milk gong at the awards. They were nominated by Arrabawn Co-op and were among 13 farming family finalists in the competition representing 11 co-ops. 

Agriculture Minister Michael Creed attended the awards ceremony in Dublin last Wednesday, October 2. 

Ailbe has farmed “since he could walk” and believes dairy framing is a good career path. His wife Denise farms with him full-time as well as running the family home. The family originated from Newport in Co. Tipperary where there were five generations of farming families dating back to the 1800s.

The NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards celebrate excellence in Irish dairy farming and this year expanded its criteria in the area of sustainable dairy farming to champion farmers committed to caring for their environment. 

Minister Creed said the awards celebrate what is truly special about Ireland – our unique way of farming coupled with the passion our farmers have in producing the best quality milk in the world. 

"The environment which we operate in is ever-changing and while we face significant challenges, it is important to celebrate our dairy farmers who continue to strive for excellence. It’s their hard work and dedication that forms the foundation of success for our industry," he saidl 

For each of the finalist farms, the judges detail the combined fat and protein percentage 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, coupled with additional factors including evidence of sustainable dairy farming, help formulate the winning farms.