Limerick's Cathal among new graduates to drive dairy farming forward

THE 2024 graduates of the Teagasc/UCD level 7 Professional Diploma in dairy farm management course were presented with their diplomas at an awards ceremony at Teagasc Moorepark this month.

One of those to receive a diploma for his diligence and excellence in dairy farming is young Cathal O'Brien from Caherconlish.

The awards were presented by Dr Padraig French, dairy enterprise leader at Teagasc Moorepark and Professor Karina Pierce, associate professor in dairy production, UCD 

Ms  Pierce congratulated the 14 participants who graduated at the ceremony, commenting on the knowledge and skills the graduates have developed over the last two years and wished them well in their dairy careers. 

Mr French congratulated the graduates and their families on the significant achievement. He acknowledged the significant contribution of Teagasc research, education and advisory staff in delivering the programme as well as the commitment from host farmers who run successful farm businesses, while also providing invaluable mentoring to students and very generously share their time and private farm information with students.

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Separately but continuing the dairy theme, Dairygold is updating its Grassroots Milk Supplier Sustainability Bonus to offer a 33% increase in the payment which will result in approximately €14 million being paid out to participating farmers annually.

The Grassroots Milk Supplier Sustainability Bonus was introduced in 2023, offering 0.75 cent per litre (equivalent) of milk to participating milk suppliers. Since its launch in 2023, Dairygold has paid out more than €17m to participating milk suppliers. 93% of milk supplied to Dairygold is sourced from farms participating in the Grassroots programme.

The updated Milk Supplier Sustainability bonus offers Dairygold milk suppliers the opportunity to receive 1 cent per litre (equivalent) by participating in impactful sustainability actions, including protecting water quality, use of protected urea to reduce greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions, participation in a soil health programme, engaging in milk recording herd health and genetics programmes along with farmer training and education.

The updated 2025 Grassroots Milk Supplier Sustainability Bonus Programme includes new elements, focused on farm nutrient balance training and action, and on herd genetics.

Nutrient balance is a leading metric for water quality impact. Awareness of it at individual farm level will help to drive additional appropriate action to protect water quality. The herd genetics measures, including dairy beef, will further enhance herd performance to support more sustainable and profitable farming.

Speaking at the launch of the updated Dairygold Grassroots Milk Supplier Sustainability Bonus, Michael McGrath, European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection said: “Dairy processors across Ireland, including Dairygold, are doing a lot of proactive work with their milk suppliers to improve the sustainability of our dairy industry.

"The dairy industry is Ireland’s largest and most successful indigenous industry, supporting thousands of farming families across the country. It’s through participation on programmes such as Grassroots that our family farms can future proof their operations to ensure we maintain our world-class dairy industry into the future.”

Speaking about the update to the bonus, Dairygold Chairperson Seán O’Brien said: “We’re delighted to be in a position to continue to reward our Milk Suppliers for the positive steps they are taking to make their farms even more sustainable. We know that water quality is a priority issue for agriculture, and we’re committed to doing what we can to further drive action to protect and improve it across the Dairygold catchment.

"The updated training element of the Grassroots Bonus, encompassing individual nutrient balance training and action, will go a long way towards achieving those positive results. However, we also need to ensure we’re given the time to demonstrate the efficacy of these measures.

"We’re also confident that our strengthened focus on genetics, including dairy beef, will further enhance herd performance and productivity impacting positively on the bottom line for those farm enterprises and on the environment.”

Also commenting on the launch, Dairygold Chief Executive Michael Harte said: “Our Milk Suppliers have made great progress in adopting more sustainable farming practices since the launch of the Grassroots Bonus Programme in 2023.

"We saw a requirement to update the bonus programme to reflect the changing nature of the challenges facing the agriculture industry, and we’re confident the updated Grassroots programme will go a long way towards addressing those challenges.

"We’re here to support our Milk Suppliers in their efforts to make the dairy industry more sustainable, as without them, there is no dairy industry.”