AHI CellCheck Milking for Quality Awards

The top 500 milk producers recognised nationally at ceremony hosted by Animal Health Ireland in Kilkenny.

The AHI CellCheck Milking for Quality Awards took place on Thursday 24 November in the Lyrath Hotel, Kilkenny sponsored by industry and Irish milk processors. The awards are given to the 500 milk suppliers nationally with the lowest weighted annual somatic cell count (SCC) in the previous year.

Glanbia Ingredients Ireland (GII) was delighted to have such a large number of suppliers represented at the awards ceremony, with over 140 award winners in attendance. GII suppliers who were unable to attend the event will receive their plaques over the coming weeks from the GII Farm Team.

The 500 lowest herds were selected from the National Database by DAFM and AHI. Thirteen processors were involved in the nights proceedings, and the lowest supplier from each processor was recognised with a special award. Eamon and Ann Doyle who farm in Inistioge with their son were recognised as having the lowest SCC supplied to Glanbia and received a hamper from Jim Bergin on behalf of the Industry.

Pictured above: Eamonn and Anne Doyle from Inistioge, Kilkenny, receiving their Award from Jim Bergin, CEO GII.

During a panel discussion chaired by Justin McCarthy (Irish Framers Journal), Jim Bergin (CEO GII) commented how customers see SCC levels as a crucial indicator of animal health on farm. Finola McCoy (Programme Manager CellCheck) noted the progress made over the last number of years on this front. Martin Blake (DAFM) spoke about the increasing pressure on all aspects of medicine to reduce antibiotic use in both animals and humans to help avoid the build-up of antimicrobial resistance. Decreasing SCC will help lead to healthier animals, requiring less medicinal treatments and overall an increase in on farm profitability for every individual farmer.

The information that was used to collate the awards is part of a bigger project to track national SCC progress. The CellCheck Industry Consultation Group agreed a target, that by 2020 75% of milk supplied in Ireland will have an SCC <200,000 cells/mL; the industry is well on its way to achieving this target. This database now shows that there has been a significant improvement in the average SCC level in the dairy herd in the period 2010 to 2015. In 2010 26% of milk recorded herds had an annual herd average SCC below the 200,000 cells/ mL threshold and this figure has risen to 61% in 2015.

GII has been Involved with AHI CellCheck programme since the beginning:

• Initial project scoping out
• Development of resources such as manual, farmer workshop materials, key industry messages
• Data compilation for national database and the award scheme – 2013, 2014, and now 2015
• Farmer workshop delivery on the ground
• Funding of AHI

In particular, the Milk Quality Farm Team consistently use the CellCheck agreed messages with farmers – this ensures consistency in the advice from our team as per other sources – such as from the vet or milking machine technician. Congratulations again to all winners.

Further information on the CellCheck programme is available on www.animalhealthireland.ie .

First Published 2 December 2016