Three Offaly finalists set for National Dairy Awards next week

The 'cream of the crop' is being acknowledged as county Offaly has three finalists in this year's second National Dairy Awards, which take place in Portlaoise on Thursday next, June 13.

The awards event will recognising the quality and talents of the county's dairy farmers and innovators.

The Offaly finalists include Killeigh's Caolan Flanagan, who is again in contention for the 'Mullinahone Co-op Young Dairy Farmer of the Year' award

Daingean duo Jack Pilkington and Alan O'Donovan are up for the 'Local Power Best Dairy Sustainability Driver' honour, while their company, Agri Data Analytics, is a finalist for the 'Carbery Dairy Innovation Recognition Award'.

Caolan Flanagan is a finalist for the young farmer of the year honour having strived to develop a biodiverse grassland management system that can benefit both his livestock and the environment.

By removing the use of chemical and nitrogen fertilisers and replacing them with organic matter such as slurry, slurry bugs and farmyard manure, he has created a soil system that maintains itself.

Jack Pilkington and Alan O’Donovan are the Faithful County's entry for the Local Power Best Dairy Sustainability Driver award.

Jack and Alan's overarching purpose is to provide agri-focused researchers with data that they can use to identify high and low emitting ruminants, test methane reducing supplementation and determine ways of reducing cattle methane and CO2 output through genetical, dietary and supplementary means without compromise to Dairy/Beef yield. They are indirectly working to reduce livestock emissions on a national and worldwide scale.

The pair also have an entry in the Carbery Dairy Innovation Recognition Award as Agri Data Analytics. They developed the Bovine Breathalyser to measure methane and CO2 emissions from cattle. This non-invasive device captures breath samples while cattle eat from an integrating feeding system, providing accurate data without disturbing the animals.

The second National Dairy Awards gala evening presentations will take place in the Midlands Park Hotel, Portlaoise on Thursday next.

The awards celebrate the primary producers, the artisan producers, sector services and the dairy processors as an industry collective. It will be a premier black tie, industry wide, awards ceremony highlighting the best of the Irish dairy sector.