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A number of farmers were recognised by M&S at its Select Farm Awards ceremony, hosted on the first day of the Balmoral show.
Ian Loughrin, a beef farmer from Cookstown, won the Animal Welfare Award. He has set up two state-of-the art calf rearing units, with calves sourced from Linden Foods Procurement.
Patrick Black, a poultry farmer from Ballycastle who supplies Skea Eggs, was awarded the Low Carbon Farming Pioneer Award for his commitment to reducing his carbon footprint, while William and Maurice Kells from Portadown won the Farming with Nature Award. The Kells family produce beef and sheep, and were recognised for their commitment to improving biodiversity on their farm.
Richard Murphy, a poultry farmer from Whitecross, scooped the Farming Innovation Award.
After two consecutive price drops, butter prices rebounded at this week’s Dutch Dairy Board auction with a €30/t increase.
This brings butter to €7,150/t which is €3,100/t above the equivalent value last May. Whole milk powder held steady at €5,190 after two successive price drops. However, skim milk powder did fall by €140 to €3,940/t, but remains close to €1,500 above its corresponding value from this time last year.
Base quotes for prime cattle are up 2p/kg to 426p/kg, with 6p/kg being added to cow quotes bringing an R3 animal to 362p/kg.
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