Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year
John O'Loughlin, Grassland Agro; Liam Herlihy, Chairman of Teagasc; Professor Frank O'Mara, Teagasc Director; Emer O Byrne, FBD; Charlie McConalogue T.D., Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine; Michael Berkery, FBD Trust; John MacNamara, Chair of Grass10 Steering group; Liz Hyland, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine; Donal Whelton, AIB; Adam Woods, Irish Farmers Journal; and John Maher, Teagasc Grass10.
Judges for this year's Sustainable Grassland Farmer of the Year competition are on the hunt for farmers who are growing and utilising high levels of grass in a sustainable way.
This competition, which is in its eighth year and run as part of the Grass10 campaign, is supported by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Teagasc, AIB, FBD, and Grassland Agro.
Launching the competition, Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue said: “Grass is a valuable asset that gives our farmers a natural advantage over our international counterparts. Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of seeing the first Irish Grass Fed Beef with Protected Geographical Indication status being placed on supermarket shelves. This EU PGI quality scheme recognises the distinctive qualities and characteristics of Irish Grass-Fed Beef and highlights its place of origin and our unique grass-based farming system”.
The Minister added: “It’s important that we maximise the efficiencies of our grass-based systems to make them more profitable and environmentally sustainable. As part of my ongoing commitment to improving the sustainability of our farming systems, I reopened the Multi-Species Sward and Red Clover Silage measures again this year. This builds on the success of these programmes over the last two years.”
Head of the Teagasc Grass10 programme, John Maher, said: “Grass is crucial to sustainable livestock systems both in terms of economic and environmental sustainability. The Grass10 campaign has shown how better grassland management and utilisation has not only improved profitability on farms but also helped to reduce greenhouse gas and ammonia emissions.
"More and more farmers are using protected urea fertiliser, recycling the nutrients in slurry through the use of Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) equipment, and incorporating white clover, red clover and multispecies swards to reduce their use of chemical nitrogen. Teagasc has increased research on nutrient management and the use of clover, and in advisory support to farmers to adopt these technologies.”
For 2024, the competition boasts an overall prize fund of €35,000.
Prizes will be awarded for Dairy, Drystock, Nutrient Management and Use Efficiency, Clover, Organic Farming, and Young Farmer (under 30 years). The overall winner will be selected from the category winners and will receive an additional €5,000.
Applications can be made on the Teagasc website ahead of the Friday, September 6, closing date.
