We decided to go to Millstreet for the FBD National Dairy Show last Saturday. We hadn’t been for a few years. Driving in, we could see that there was a huge crowd, with several car parks already full.

Once we parked up, a bus arrived to ferry us to the arena. A man struggled to get a buggy on board along with two little boys. He handed the toddler to another man for a few minutes, who did his best to calm the little fellow while he hit his head off the shelf overhead. The little blonde-haired boy struggled and bawled. The dad grabbed him when he was ready and all was calm again. I smiled to myself at the sequence of events, remembering when my own children were that age.

We joined the crowd going into the arena and met Noel C Duggan, who built it all. It is a very comfortable place for the show. The event has really grown over the last few years, bringing most of the dairy-related companies together under one roof.

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Tim said, “Look at all the people who are hanging off the cows’ tails.”

We had a cup of tea and a sweet bite in the Dairygold stand. It was packed with suppliers, all chewing the fat and talking about global markets with Dairygold executives.

Ambassador for young farmers

The competitors were busy showing their animals in a separate area. The cows and heifers were polished to perfection and on their best behaviour as they were led around the ring.

As we approached the FBD stand, we could see our daughter-in-law, Aileen, cup in hand, smiling from her photograph on the backdrop. The photograph was taken when she won the FBD Young Farmer of the Year 2025. In 17 years of the competition, she is the first young woman to receive the award, making us very proud of her. She is a great ambassador for young women in farming but believes firmly that men and women are better together, supporting each other. She and Philip make a great team. When Aileen made her speech at the end of her term as FBD Young Farmer of the Year 2025 a few weeks ago, she detailed the wonderful year she had, filled with opportunities. She admitted that her future in farming was still uncertain. She said that the industry had to get serious about generational renewal and land mobility in order to allow young people to get into farming and to guide the future of agriculture.

As we approached the FBD stand, we could see our daughter-in-law, Aileen, cup in hand, smiling from her photograph on the backdrop. The photograph was taken when she won the FBD Young Farmer of the Year 2025. In 17 years of the competition, she is the first young woman to receive the award, making us very proud of her

The FBD Young Farmer of the Year 2026 is Shane Halpin from Dublin. The winners of the Teagasc FBD Environmental Sustainability Awards were announced recently. These awards aim to promote environmentally sustainable farming. William Dennehy, a dairy farmer from Co Kerry, was named Sustainable Farmer of the Year 2026. Aileen and Philip scooped the category award for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. I was thrilled for them as they are particularly committed to this area of their dairy business.

They had two main pillars in their entry: a commitment to sustainable pasture and increasing the EBI of the herd. They now have over 30% clover across the farm, allowing them to reduce the fertiliser spread on the farm. They also have multi-species swards on roughly 10% of the farm. We met Philip, Aileen and their daughter, Katie, at the Dairy Show. Katie was happy playing on the FBD stand with her new water bottle and spongy cow. Then she was back on Philip’s shoulders, trying her to see the cows.

We met dairy farmers, IFA colleagues, past students and employees who spent time on our farm, and all sorts of lovely people. Everyone was in good form. It was a great day out.