500 dairy farming families recognised for efforts in herd health awards
From left: AHI chairman, James Lynch; CellCheck programme manager Dr Finola McCoy; agriculture minister Martin Heydon; and chair of FBD Trust Michael Berkery, launching the 2025 CellCheck Awards. Picture: Conor O’Mearain
The annual CellCheck Milking for Quality Awards, coordinated by Animal Health Ireland (AHI), will recognise 500 dairy farm families at the award ceremony on November 27.
The awards, in their 12th year, and sponsored by FBD, recognises Irish dairy farmers and their achievements in herd health, specifically those who have achieved a consistently low somatic cell count (SCC).
Guests of honour at this year’s events will be agriculture minister Martin Heydon and chief executive of Coole Swan Mary Sadlier. Ms Sadlier will give insights into how she forged her career and why Irish dairy is central to the global Coole Swan success story.
CellCheck is the national mastitis control programme. AHI works with dairy farmers and their service providers to increase the awareness and capacity to manage and prevent mastitis in Irish herds. The programme seeks to achieve a healthier and more productive herd, which contributes to increased efficiency and profitability on farms.
Commenting on the awards, chair of Animal Health Ireland James Lynch, said: “Every day, a dairy farmer puts on their wellies and steps into the parlour, they are putting years and generations of hard work, skill and strategic decisions into action.
"The CellCheck Awards recognise and pay tribute to this commitment to excellence. Our dairy farmers are world-class food producers, and the CellCheck programme has, for over 10 years, supported them on the journey of improved herd health, reduced SCC, and the continued application of selective dry cow therapy.
We look forward to welcoming our award-winning farmers to the CellCheck Awards on 27th November. I greatly thank all our co-ops for their continued support of the CellCheck Programme, and I pay tribute to FBD for their unwavering commitment to AHI and CellCheck.”
Since the start of the CellCheck Programme, the reported national average bulk tank SCC has reduced by almost 100,000 cells/mL, to an average of 173,000 cells/mL in 2024. This improvement in udder health in the national herd is helping to reduce antimicrobial usage, improve farm profitability and contribute towards reducing agri-emissions.
CellCheck programme manager Finola McCoy said: “This year’s award recipients exemplify how excellence in dairy farming begins with getting the fundamentals right… Encouragingly, this group has also shown continued progress in reducing the use of antibiotic dry cow therapy, as selective dry cow strategies become more widely adopted.
"Our CellCheck award winners are raising the bar for the entire dairy sector, with all of this year’s honourees achieving somatic cell count levels below 71,000 cells/mL — an outstanding result.”
Winning dairy processors the 500 award-winning families supply include: Arrabawn Tipperary Co-op, Aurivo Co-op, Bandon Co-op, Barryroe Co-op, Boherbue Co-op, Callan Co-op, Centenary Thurles Co-op, Dairygold, Drinagh Co-op, Tirlán, Kerry Dairy Ireland, Lakeland Dairies, Lee Strand Co-op, Lisavaird Co-op, North Cork Co-op, and Strathroy Dairies.
