The O’Neill family in Crohane, Ballinsascarthy were one of two Cork farms to be recognised at the recent 2025 National Dairy Council and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards, as they were awarded the Animal Health and Welfare Award for 2025.

They joined fellow rebel winners, the Sheehan/O’Leary Farm from Whitechurch, who were recognised this year with the Grassland Management Award.

Caroline O’Neill and her family were nominated by Lisavaird Co-op; Caroline’s farming story began alongside her father in Ballinadee, but today she runs her own pedigree herd of 59 cows at Crohane at Ballinascarthy.

Trading as Le Chéile Dairy, Caroline runs the farm as a business, ‘with clear roles, paid family labour, and a focus on efficiency and profitability alongside animal care.’

The farm was particularly nominated for its system where quality rather than quantity is the focus.

Numbers are down compared to the past, but profitability and performance are up; the herd is genotyped, producing over 490kg of milk solids per cow.

Caroline’s children Caitlin, Daniel, Leanne, Conor and Louise are all involved, and Daniel has developed a sideline breeding Bernese Mountain Dogs.

The former president Michael D Higgins famously had Bernese Mountain dogs throughout his presidency with the last surviving, Misneach, back in Galway with the Higgins’.

Caroline also trains camogie in the evenings, and with a busy schedule, the cows ‘have to work around the matches’!

She’s maternal to the core; newborn calves start life under heat lamps and are never cold or damp, babied from the very start.

While her father contract rears the heifers, Caroline has placed great faith in the guidance of senior vet Jim Kelliher and his colleague Willie Buckley.

Animal health and welfare is a priority on this farm, and was the factor that led to her eventual award.

It’s not all work of course, as one of the judges Professor Karina Pierce was struck by the mirror in Caroline’s milking parlour, so she can tidy herself up and, as she says, be  ‘ready for the road’ at all times.

Other West Cork nominees and finalists for the awards included Michael and Anne Duggan of Ballyboy outside Dunmanway (nominated by Drinagh Co-op), John and Annette O’Donoghue in Bandon (nominated by Bandon Co-op), and Kinsale’s Colm O’Donovan (nominated by Barryroe).

The awards programme, now in its 16th year, saw 12 farming families from seven counties celebrated for excellence in milk production and sustainable dairying.

Following their nomination by their Co-ops, the 12 families took part in a comprehensive judging process that evaluated a range of the most important aspects of modern dairy farming including environmental sustainability, animal health and welfare, farm infrastructure, hygiene standards, soil and grassland management, farm advocacy, and technical performance.