Dairy farmers John and PJ O’Keeffe from Court-na-Boola, Callan, Co Kilkenny, were among the cream of the crop when they were short-listed among the top national finalists for the NDC Quality Milk Awards, which sets out to identify and reward our top dairy farmers.
John, Joan and PJ who supply milk to Callan Co-op, were presented with a special Judges’ Award for Sustainable Development by special guest Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh at the National Dairy Council awards ceremony in Dublin’s RDS.
John O'Keeffe and his son PJ farm 100 ha (48 ha grazing ) near Callan — they milked 96 cows in 2010 and have an eight-unit milking parlour and also a beef production system.
The O'Keeffes have a firm believe that a good routine is one of the keys to consistent good milk quality, matched with positive thinking, confidence and attention to detail.
National Dairy Council chairman Jackie Cahill thanked all of the dairy co-ops which took time to select and submit nominations for this year’s awards and offered congratulations to all of the finalists and winners.
Mr Cahill also extended particular thanks to the national judges for the NDC Quality Milk Awards for the considerable investment in time that goes into assessing the detailed technical results and physically visiting the farms of all of the finalists. The judges are Professor Paddy Wall, associate professor of public health at UCD; Dr David Gleeson, milk quality research, Teagasc; and Jack Kennedy, dairy editor, Irish Farmers Journal.
