500 dairy farm families are set to be recognised for their commitment to herd health excellence at the annual CellCheck Milking for Quality Awards.

The event, coordinated by Animal Health Ireland (AHI), will take place on November 27.

The awards, which are sponsored by FBD and are now in their 12th year, recognise the excellence achieved by Irish dairy farmers in herd health, specifically those that achieve a consistently low somatic cell count (SCC).

CellCheck

The guests of honour at this year’s event are Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon and Coole Swan chief executive, Mary Sadlier.

Sadlier will give insights into how she forged her career and why Irish dairy is central to the global Coole Swan success story.

The CellCheck programme, coordinated by (AHI), works with dairy farmers, co-ops, vets and all of industry, 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.

Since the inception of the CellCheck Programme, the national average bulk tank SCC has reduced by almost 100,000 cells/mL, to an average of 173,000 cells/mL in 2024.

Awards

James Lynch, chair of Animal Health Ireland (AHI), said that the CellCheck Awards "recognises and pays tribute to this commitment to excellence".

"We look forward to welcoming our award-winning farmers to the CellCheck Awards on November 27.

"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."

Awards

Finola McCoy, CellCheck programme manager, said that this year’s award recipients "exemplify how excellence in dairy farming begins with getting the fundamentals right".

"Their commitment to herd health and maintaining exceptionally low somatic cell counts highlights what can be achieved through good management practice and attention to detail.

"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," she said.

This year's winning dairy processors are as follows:

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;
Strathroy Dairies

Michael Berkery, chair of FBD Trust, added: “As a world-class dairy producing national, herd health is the cornerstone of everything we do".

"Animal Health Ireland plays a vital role in delivering improvements to the Irish livestock sector.

"The work of the CellCheck programme is evident in improving the quality of Irish milk, whilst also boosting savings for farmers.

"FBD is delighted to sponsor the CellCheck Milking For Quality Awards, and has committed to doing so for the next number of years," he said.