A group of dairy farmers in Knockanore, Co Waterford, have sponsored their local GAA club for the next five years to highlight the importance of sustainable dairy production.

The Shamrocks GAA club, made up of combined parishes Knockanore, Glendine and Kilwatermoy in Waterford, has been sponsored by 22 dairy farmers in the area with the help of the National Dairy Council (NDC).

The special GAA jerseys have a sustainable dairy logo designed by the NDC in conjunction with the group of farmers involved in the sponsorship.

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There were two sets of jerseys given to both the men and women’s adult teams. A jersey was also supplied to every child in Knockanore National School, where there are approximately 100 children.

Farm visit

One of the project leaders Kevin Moloney held a special farm visit last Friday for children from Knonkanore National School.

With help from the other dairy farmers, they showed videos that highlighted milking and silage in action, as well as teaching the children about the grass to glass story from NDC and all about the unique wildlife found on farms.

Kevin said: “We want to show people what really happens on a farm. Growing up, most of us were farmers, but that’s not the case now in rural Ireland. It’s a case of educating and telling children where their food comes from.”

Working with nature

As a young dairy farmer, Kevin believes in working with nature to farm more sustainably. He has undertaken several initiatives to lower emissions on his farm, including the planting of trees and hedgerows and installing two ponds and a nature area for wildlife.

Speaking of the sustainable measures he has implemented on his own farm, he said: “Last May, I started growing multi-species swards on my fields. The benefits of a multi-species sward is that they require reduced fertiliser while maintaining a steady growth rate.

"A sward with a clover content of between 20% and 50% can allow fertiliser application in the summer months to be halved. Living in the scenic Blackwater Valley, it’s important to keep respecting this land and the nature around it.”

The NDC said that beyond production, farmers are dedicated to the environmental wellbeing of their farm. In addition to this, Irish farmers want to be given the chance to continue their work while still producing the best milk in the world.