Scientist duo winners help cut milk costs

YOUNG Scientist Exhibition winners Liam McCarthy and John D O’Callaghan will have a direct cost reduction impact on milk production with their discovery which will modernise currently slow and expensive tests for somatic cell content.

Impressed by the value of their winning project — The Development of a Convenient Test Method for Somatic Cell Count and its Importance in Milk Production — the Irish Dairy Board invited the Kinsale Community School students to visit the Kerrygold Company, in Leek, Staffordshire, in England during their mid-term break.

At Leek, the Kerrygold Company packs more than 70,000 tonnes of cheese per year for the major British multiples and the Kerrygold brand. A company spokesperson said the visit enabled Liam and John to see at first hand just how important their contribution will be to Irish dairy farmers and the dairy industry as a whole. The visit included a presentation on cheese grading and an introduction to the accredited laboratory. Both were very impressed by the innovative facilities at the plant where the carbon footprint was cut by 15%.