Timoleague farmer wins Carbery Milk Quality and Sustainability Awards
Sean Deasy, winner of the 2023 awards. Picture: Clare Keogh
West Cork farmer Seán Deasy has been named as the overall winner of the 2023 Carbery Milk Quality and Sustainability Awards.
A member of Barryroe Co-op, Mr Deasy is milking 80 cows and farming 80 acres in Ahafore, Timoleague, with his family, wife Fiona, and their daughters Gemma, 16, and Mia, 13.
He farms about a mile from the sea, on land that his grandfather bought 100 years ago. He is the third generation to farm it.
His grandfather Daniel Deasy, who had emigrated to America and was home on holidays in 1922, went to an auction to buy a plough for his brother and came home with the farm.
Seán took over from his late father in 1996. His mother Anna lives on the farm in the original farmhouse.
Mr Deasy achieved 509kg of milk solids per cow in 2022 and he credits the quality he achieves to consistency.
He has been milk recording for more than 30 years.
He is an early adopter of new approaches and technology, and this has led to many changes, including reseeding with clover, not spraying weeds too often, and reducing his fertiliser application by half in the last 10 years.
He has also been an active participant in many farmer discussion groups over the years.
He has been a member of the Carbery/Teagasc joint programme in the past, the local Grass10 group, his local discussion group, and the Carbery Greener Dairy Farms programme.
He completed the Diploma in Environmental Sustainability with UCC, a joint initiative between Carbery and the university.
He is currently a member of the Barryroe Co-op board.
Mr Deasy said that he believes Irish farmers "have a great story to tell".
"People have old-fashioned perceptions about farmers which I think need to be challenged," Mr Deasy said.
"Farmers are always looking forward to what they can do better. We are very qualified, we know a lot about the environment, and if we are not going to be custodians of the land, who is?"
He said he believes that younger farmers need to be supported and encouraged into farming and take advantage of the benefits of the life, including flexibility and opportunities for gaining knowledge and partnerships.
Speaking about the awards, Carbery Group chairman Cormac O’Keeffe said that Irish dairy is made up of thousands of farming families, "all working incredibly hard every single day of the year to produce the highest quality, sustainable milk".
"These families are committed to the highest standards of quality and animal welfare, protecting land handed down through generations, all while producing milk sustainably and responsibly," Mr O'Keeffe said.
"Farming can be a thankless job, especially in the current climate with cost, and environmental pressures stacking up. These farming families set the standards and tell the story we want to show to the world about Irish dairy."
There were three finalists from each West Cork co-op (Barryroe, Bandon, Drinagh, and Lisavaird) for the awards.
The Deasy family was the Barryroe Co-op winner along with being the overall winner; the Bandon Co-op winner was the Falvey family, Curranure, Innishannon; the Drinagh Co-op winner was the Lynch family, Coolnaclehy, Skibbereen; and the Lisavaird Co-op winner was the Walsh family, Keel North, Enniskeane.
