Limerick dairyman named Grassland Farmer of the Year

The awards recognise and reward farmers who are growing and getting the most from the grass on their farms in a sustainable manner.

Wed, 20 Apr, 2022 - 13:21

Rachel Martin

A Limerick dairyman has been named Ireland's top grassland farmer.

Colin Doherty, Adare, Co Limerick won the award for Overall Winner of the Grassland Farmer of the Year 2021 at a special ceremony at the Teagasc Animal & Grassland, Research and Innovation Centre, in Moorepark, Co Cork, on Thursday.

Now in its fifth year, the awards recognise and reward farmers who are growing and getting the most from the grass on their farms in a sustainable manner. The awards are supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and boast a €20,000 prize fund.

Speaking at the event, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon congratulated all of the 10 finalists.

"It is clear that initiatives such as Grass10 and the Grassland Farmer of the Year are to the fore in helping farmers achieve the most they can from the natural resource they have on their farm, which is grass," he said.

The Grassland Farmer of the Year awards are part of the Teagasc Grass10 campaign which is supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Teagasc, AIB, FBD Insurance, Grassland Agro among others.

The first year of Phase II of the programme has been completed with a continued focus on improving nutrient management and efficiency on-farm and clover incorporation.

Enterprise Category Winners

Drystock: Aidan Maguire, Navan, Co. Meath

Dairy: Colin Doherty, Adare, Co. Limerick

Category winners

Young Farmer: Philip Tyndall, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford;

Mixed Soils: Sean O’Donnell, Ballina, Co Mayo;

Clover/Sustainable Farming: Brendan Walsh, Cahir, Co Tipperary;

Innovation in Grassland: Brigid Carroll, Gorey, Co Wexford.

Enterprise Runner-ups

Dairy: Peter Brophy, Paulstown, Co Kilkenny; Daniel Rundle, Ardee, Co Louth; Jim Conway, Cahir, Co Tipperary.

Drystock: Shane Moore, Athleague, Co Roscommon.

Speaking on behalf of the competition judges, dairy writer Aidan Brennan said: “One thing that we looked at this year was clover establishment and management.

"We also focussed on sustainability, particularly the environmental footprint, but also Health and Safety. There was a massive uptake of low emission slurry spreading and protected urea among the contestants.

"The fact that the average grass growth among the finalists was 13.4 tonnes of Dry Matter per hectare just shows that you can be very efficient while also being very sustainable.”

Organic 'the way forward' for food security

Padraig Walshe, dairy farmer and chair of the Teagasc Grass10 stakeholder committee, said: “Grass10 is a very important programme for the promotion of best practise in grassland management. It’s about transferring the research and innovation out onto farms. These awards are a celebration of this.

"It is very important to recognise the excellence achieved and we look forward to holding farm walks later in the year, so the messages get out to more farmers.”

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Professor Frank O’Mara, Teagasc Director, said: “Grass is the bedrock of our beef, dairy and sheep enterprises. It is what gives us our competitive advantage from an economic and environmental perspective.”