06-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Tirlán award for sustainability goes to Wicklow dairy farmers
The awards, which took place on Tuesday, April 29, recognise the long-standing commitment of Tirlán's dedicated suppliers to delivering high-quality, sustainably produced milk from grass-based herds across Ireland. Many farmers have been supplying Tirlán and caring for the land for several generations.
Donal Kavanagh and his family run Carrigeen Dairy in Baltinglass were crowned the inaugural Sustainability Champions at the Awards. Donal runs the farm with his children and wife Fiona. The farm was a feature of the Tirlán and Teagasc 'Farming for the Future' water quality walk and talk held in the summer of last year, where 300 people in attendance were informed of the steps taken to make the farm more sustainable, including reducing the use of chemical nitrogen by 33 per cent since 2021 through the use of clover, which is a natural nitrogen fixer, in grass.
A total of 16 awards were presented across a variety of categories, from exceptional milk quality and milk solids to environmental stewardship and innovation.
John Murphy, Chairperson of Tirlán, congratulated all recipients: 'These awards are a celebration of the passion, care and innovation that our family farm suppliers bring to their work every day. It all starts on the family farm and it's about so much more than milk. It's about the family farm business. It's about values, progress and pride in doing the right thing.
'The quality of Irish milk and of our Irish family farm model based on grass-fed is our unique selling point around the globe. It's something we're very proud of and it is winning us new markets and new customers every day.'
