A feed additive that reduces methane emissions in dairy cows by a minimum of 30% has been announced as the overall winner of the AXA National Dairy Innovation Awards.
The awards, held in conjunction with the National Dairy Show, took place this evening (Friday, October 21) at the Green Glens Arena in Millstreet, Co. Cork.
This is the 11th running of the awards which recognise a new product or service launched over the past year that has revolutionised some aspect of dairy farming.
The 20 finalists made individual presentations this afternoon to the judging panel ahead of the winners being announced by former minister for agriculture and broadcaster Ivan Yates.
Bovaer, a feed additive developed by DSM, which reduces enteric methane emissions in dairy cows by a minimum of 30% was named as the overall award winner.
The additive, which contributes to a significant reduction in the environmental footprint of milk production, also claimed gold in the scientific category.
DSM is currently working on expanding the additive into the beef herd.
The winner of the inaugural sustainability award was Micron Agritech for their Micron Kit.
Using FEC technology and a mobile app, it allows vets to test animals for parasites on-site and get results within just 30 minutes.
The product, which also claimed silver in the scientific category, means that vets can identify parasite trends on-farm and recommend whether a treatment is required or not.
Concept Dairy claimed top honours in the technology category for their app which enables farmers to lock in their milk price, and opt into a price protection plan which can set a minimum price.
The runner-up in the technology category was MSD’s SenseHub In-Line Somatic Cell Count Sensor.
TailJack was named as the winner of the engineering category and also claimed the title of best start-up.
The device attaches to the cow’s hips and holds the tail up protecting farmers particularly during calving season when milking freshly-calved heifers.
M-Tec’s 12x6FT Livestock Trailer was the runner up in the engineering category.