Family’s work/life balance is praised by milk quality judges

DAIRYGOLD milk suppliers Pat and Liz O’Brien of Crookstown are the mid-Cork regional winners and third overall in the 2022 Dairygold Milk Quality Awards.

The O’Brien family, consisting of parents Pat and Liz and children Liam, Kitty, Annie and Patrick, milk 97 cows on a farm bought by Pat’s father in 1974 in Currabeha, Crookstown. 

The judges praised the O’Brien’s farm as a truly family-run operation, where each of the six members plays an active and specialised role. 

This unique set-up promotes a healthy work-life balance, wherein responsibilities like weekend milkings are evenly distributed, ensuring everyone enjoys time-off. 

They also commended the family’s environmentally conscious approach to farming by implementing work practices such as repurposing water for cleaning and replenishing the paddock water troughs.

Speaking about the awards, Dairygold chairman Seán O’Brien said that 2022 was a positive year in terms of milk price but it also brought with it some challenges such as rising input costs and supply chain uncertainty. 

‘Despite these challenges, Dairygold’s milk suppliers continued to provide the highest quality milk to the society for its customers,’ he added. ‘We also appreciate the work of our milk suppliers in adopting more sustainable farming practices in a bid to help us all reach our sectoral emissions target. Late last year we launched the grassroots bonus programme in a bid to reward the efforts being made by our milk suppliers in this regard. The future of the industry hinges on the action we take now.’

The awards were based on 2022 milk quality data for all 2,600 Dairygold milk suppliers across counties Cork, Tipperary, Limerick and Clare.  A shortlist was drawn up from each of the six regions. 

A total of 18 finalists underwent adjudication by Don Crowley, Teagasc dairy specialist and Professor Frank Buckley of University College Cork.    

The judges chose one overall winner along with six regional winners. 

The other regional finalists in mid Cork were Sean, Thomas and Louise Murray, Glannarouge, Crookstown and Jerry, Valerie and David Herlihy from Berrings.