To Thomas Dwan, being a finalist in the National Dairy Council and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards 2014 is a proud moment "for both farm and family".

Thomas, from Thurles, Co Tipperary, is one of Fifteen dairy farmers from right across Ireland have been shortlisted for the Quality Milk Award. In the first of a series of videos featuring some of the finalists, he said it is "a reflection of the extra bit of work you put in to get everything right".

The competition sets out to identify and reward Ireland’s top dairy farmers in milk quality. The judging panel will combine technical data with an inspection of the farm in order to select the overall winner.

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Thomas is the 4th generation of the Dwan family to run the farm and said it's hard to do anything else, with the quality of life, being his own boss, and the variety of work making everyday enjoyable. The measures he puts in place to make the product on the shelves the best it can be is very satisfactory when he sees the products, he said in the video.

The winner, who will receive €5,000 and a trophy, will be announced later this month.