Significant Improvements Seen in CellCheck Milking for Quality Awards

GII All Co-op Dairy

The CellCheck Milking For Quality Awards ceremony was held in the Lyrath Hotel, Kilkenny on Wednesday, 20th November. The Award is given to the 500 milk suppliers nationally with the lowest weighted annual average somatic cell count (SCC) for the previous year’s supply.

It is an initiative to recognise and reward the excellence of Irish farmers who are currently achieving high standards of udder health on their farm.

Since the inception of the Awards, the maximum SCC of award recipients has fallen each year from 103,000 cells/mL in 2014 to 76,500 cells/mL in 2018.

The CellCheck Milking For Quality Awards ceremony was sponsored by FBD Insurance and supported by Ornua and Animal Health Ireland.

The awards are based on SCC results from individual suppliers calculated from data supplied (anonymously) by the milk processors involved with the CellCheck Programme.

The Discussion Group Category (introduced for the 2017 awards) was judged by George Ramsbottom (Teagasc), Kevin Downing (ICBF) and Finola McCoy (AHI) and they used information submitted on the application form and information accessed from ICBF and Teagasc systems to identify the winners.

In addition, a special presentation was made during the Awards ceremony to the best performing supplier from each of the participating milk processors.

 

Acknowledging Excellence

Finola McCoy, CellCheck Programme Manager said; “The CellCheck Milking for Quality awards are a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate the excellence of so many Irish dairy herds.

Even during all the extreme weather events of 2018, these farmers managed to keep the udder health of their herds to the usual high standard - which goes to show, with good routines and attention to detail, it can be done!”

Speaking following the Awards, Fiona Muldoon, CEO of FBD said; “FBD Insurance is delighted to continue our long-standing relationship with the Animal Health Ireland CellCheck Awards. Since FBD first started supporting these awards, it has been wonderful to see this initiative go from strength to strength.

Animal Health Ireland are recognised for their immense contribution to Ireland’s agricultural sector and to rural life generally. At FBD Insurance, we know that awards such as this help to reward farmers for following the right path on their farms and I wish all of the participants the very best for this coming year.”

George Ramsbottom, Teagasc dairy specialist said, “Over 20 discussion groups with a membership in excess of 300 dairy farmers competed in this year’s CellCheck Discussion Group Competition. The standards they set in reducing and maintaining low somatic cell count will serve to motivate others to achieve similar levels of technical excellence on their dairy farms”.

First Published 3 December 2019

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