The Animal Health Ireland (AHI) 10th annual CellCheck awards took place last night (Thursday, November 9) in the Killashee Hotel, Naas, Co. Kildare.
The awards recognise excellence achieved by Irish dairy farmers in herd health, specifically those that achieve a consistently low somatic cell count (SCC) in their dairy herds.
CellCheck is the national mastitis control programme which is co-ordinated by AHI.
The programme works with dairy farmers and their service providers, to increase the awareness and capacity to manage and prevent mastitis in Irish herds.
Over the last decade, the national average bulk tank SCC has reduced by almost 100,000 cells/mL to the current 183,000 cells/ml.
A study conducted by AHI found that the average dairy farmer can increase net profitability by at least 1c/L through improved mastitis control.
CellCheck
500 dairy farmers from across the country with the lowest weighted annual average SCC for the previous year’s milk supply attended the awards, which were sponsored by FBD.
On the night one CellCheck champion was identified from each of the 18 participating dairy processors.
The 18 winners selected this year from each of the co-ops are as follows:
- Arrabawn – Bernard Kelly;
- Aurivo – Michael Gordon;
- Bandon – Owen and Rosaleen O’Brien;
- Barryroe – Jerry, Carmel and Máire Keohane;
- Boherbue – Eoin and Mary O’Riordan;
- Callan – Sean, Caroline and Conor Bogue;
- Centenary Thurles – Paddy Campion;
- Dairygold – David and Eileen Hannon;
- Drinagh – Richard Jennings;
- Tirlán – Tommy Murphy;
- Kerry – John and Mary O’Shaughnessy;
- Lakeland Dairies – Padraig, Pauline, Martin and Niamh Connaughton;
- Lee Strand – Ivan Groves;
- Lisavaird – Robert and Shirley Shannon;
- North Cork – Donald Sweeney;
- Tipperary – Sean McCutcheon;
- Mullinahone – Edward and Bridget Fennelly;
- Strathroy – Brendan Kavanagh.
Presentations were also made this year to 14 recipients from seven co-ops, who have been winners of the CellCheck ‘Milking for Quality’ awards for each of the last 10 years.
Speaking at the presentation of awards, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue said:
“These awards recognise the dairy farmers that achieve this excellence on their farms, the benefits of which not only contribute to their bottom line through productivity, but also underpins the high-quality characteristics of our dairy products that sees them exported to 130 markets globally.”
The minister also commended AHI for their work on other animal health programmes, including the national bovine viral diarrhoea (BVD) eradication programme, which is nearing a conclusion, and the continued work to prepare options for a national Infectious Bovine Rhinotracheitis (IBR) eradication programme.
James Lynch, Chair of Animal Health Ireland, added: “The winners here tonight are exemplars of the benefits of Animal Health Ireland’s CellCheck programme.
“Their consistent use of milk recording has been a significant factor in helping them make the right decision on disease prevention and animal health.”
CellCheck programme manager Finola McCoy noted that the SCC of all the 2023 CellCheck winners continues to be less than 73,000 cells/ml.