Castlefinn farmers recognised for dairy farming excellence

Dairy farming family, Brian Gallagher and his sons Stephen and Mark from Castlefinn have been acknowledged for dairy farming excellence at the annual Aurivo Milk Quality Awards.

Brian, Stephen, and Mark received the award for Lowest TBC in Liquid Milk. The family milk 109 Holstein Friesian cows on 80-hectare of land in Castlefinn and have plans to increase the Holstein Friesian herd to 120.

The Gallagher family farm started out as a beef and pig enterprise until Brian began milking in 1997, when he purchased a 9,000-gallon-quota farm. The pigs were gradually phased out with the last pigs sold in 2001. Today, father and sons continue to run the beef enterprise alongside dairying.

They credit their success to meticulous cleanliness and attention to detail, as well as a consistent milking routine.

Donal Tierney, chief executive of Aurivo acknowledged the huge commitment to quality and standard of the winning dairy farmer entrants.

“Now in its 16th year, the Aurivo Milk Quality Awards is an annual award programme which recognises a degree of excellence in dairy farming. I am delighted to be here today to congratulate our eight Milk Quality Award winners, who exemplify commitment to the highest quality of milk supply for both liquid and manufacturing milk.

“Our farming families' remarkable commitment and dedication allows us to produce the best quality milk and we are proud of the quality milk pool of our almost 1,000 suppliers in both the Republic and Northern Ireland,” he said.