A group of dairy farmers in Knockanore, Co. Waterford have sponsored their local GAA club for the next five years to highlight sustainability in agriculture.
The Shamrocks GAA club, made up of combined parishes in west Co. Waterford (Knockanore, Glendine and Kilwatermoy) has been sponsored by 22 dairy farmers in the area.
It upgraded the team jersey with a “sustainable dairy” logo. The logo was designed by the National Dairy Council (NDC) in conjunction with the group of farmers involved in the sponsorship.
There were two sets of jerseys given to both the men and women’s adult teams. A jersey was also supplied to every child in Knockanore National School, where there are approximately 100 children.
Farm visit
One of the farmers, Kevin Moloney held a farm visit today (June 16) for the national school.
With help from the other dairy farmers, they showed videos that highlighted milking and silage in action.
Another video presented grass to glass in farming and there was also a stand for biodiversity, along with access to cows and calves.
Moloney said: “We want to show people what really happens on a farm. Growing up, most of us were farmers but that’s not the case now in rural Ireland. It’s a case of educating and telling children where their food comes from.”
He told Agriland that the farmers would like for these visits to be continuous, with different classes visiting different farms in the area “year on year”.
“We want to stand up and tell people the good things that we’re doing for the environment firstly but also for our local communities.
“We want to highlight how much we’re [farmers] doing for the environment but also to show we’re a big part of the local economy, especially when rural Ireland is in decline; it’s about putting money into small parishes,” Moloney said.