Ronald and Brian Shorten, farming in Woodfield, Clonakilty, Co. Cork were the overall winners of the 17th Carbery Milk Quality and Sustainability Awards.

The Shortens are members of Lisavaird Co-op. Ronald and Brian are the third and fourth generation to farm the land, originally purchased by Ronald’s grandfather in the 1930s.

The family, consisting of Ronald and Brian, Ronald’s wife Betty and Brian’s brothers Mark and Andrew, is farming 120 cows on 173ac, producing an average of 592kg of milk solids (ms) per cow.

Ronald would describe himself as having always adopted new farming approaches since the 80s: “Farming is constantly evolving, and we want to evolve with the science as it changes.”

Brian focuses on breeding, while Ronald likes to see happy healthy cows, with quality grass in front of them and producing well.

The Shortens also have a focus on sustainability, planting clover and use a trailing shoe for slurry spreading to reduce emissions.

They also have newly planted hedgerows. Of this, Ronald said: “Everyone in the farming sector will need to pull together as a team to manage sustainability."

Jason Hawkins, Carbery CEO, said: “We have a market for our products worldwide on the basis that Carbery [is a] leader in quality and sustainability.

"That is why these awards, and recognising the high standards of our suppliers, will continue to be an important part of the work we do.”

Carbery Group chairman, Cormac O’Keeffe added: “Awards like this one, recognising the commitment, standards and sustainability of how we farm in Ireland and in west Cork, are more important now than ever.

The judges for this year’s competition commended every entrant for their commitment to quality, hygiene and good practices, noting the very high standard this year.

Owned by farming families, Carbery Group processed 596 million litres of milk in 2020, to produce award-winning cheeses and food ingredients in Ballineen, which were sold in over 50 international markets across the world.

There were three finalists from each west Cork co-op (Bandon, Barryroe, Lisavaird and Drinagh) for the Quality Award, and the full list of nominees and winners is below.