We have had a fantastic four weeks presenting the winners of the inaugural ICBF Beef Quality Award.

The prizes pay tribute to the hard work and dedication of the winning 24 farmers, who are producing the prime beef that the market demands while utilising the best genetics available to turn out the product in a sustainable manner.

As Minister for Agriculture Martin Heydon stated at the launch of the awards, there is not enough recognition in the beef industry to credit the work that these farmers do, so it has been fantastic to see this cohort acknowledged.

While we have given a short synopsis of each farmer’s system in the beef pages over the last month, further profiling of the winners will take place on the ICBF website and through the six processors involved; Foyle Foods, Ashbourne Meats, Dawn Meats, Kepak, ABP and Liffey Meats.

The awards have been kindly sponsored by these processors, as well as ICBF and FBD.

ABP winners of the inaugural ICBF Beef Quality Awards CBV competition with representatives from Kepak, ICBF and FBD.

Dawn Meats winners of the inaugural ICBF Beef Quality Awards CBV competition with representatives from Kepak, ICBF and FBD.\ Patrick Browne

Liffey Meats winners of the inaugural ICBF Beef Quality Awards CBV competition with representatives from Kepak, ICBF, FBD and the Irish Farmers Journal. \ Barry Cronin

Ashbourne Meats winners of the inaugural ICBF Beef Quality Awards CBV competition with representatives from Kepak, ICBF and FBD.

Foyle Foods winners of the inaugural ICBF Beef Quality Awards CBV competition with representatives from Kepak, ICBF, FBD and the Irish Farmers Journal.