A tillage farmer from Co. Tipperary has today (Tuesday, March 15) been named as the overall winner of the 2021 Dairygold malting barley competition

John Murphy has grown barley for years on his land at Garryroe, Ardfinnan. His experience; technical knowledge; planning; record keeping; and attention to detail were all noted by this year's judges.

Murphy rotates fodder beet, malting barley, winter barley and winter oats to optimise crop yield on his farm.

The tillage farmer also employs rotational hedge cutting and cover crops to promote nature and biodiversity on his land.

Dairygold explained that the sample of barley that the farmer submitted was "excellent". It had "very high bushel, exceptionally low screenings, good moisture and malting standard protein levels".

The other finalists in the 2021 competition were Gordon and John Bryan in the south/mid-Cork region, John and Mary Jones in north Cork and Declan Kenneally in the east Cork region.

Commenting on the announcement of this year's winner, Dairygold’s head of commercial agri business Seamus O’Mahony said: “John’s wealth of experience and knowledge of the tillage and malting industries were key factors in his success in this year’s competition.”

Along with congratulating the Tipperary farmer on his win, chair of Dairygold John O'Gorman thanked all of the finalists.

"Tillage growers are a very important part of Dairygold’s business, and we remain committed to supporting and developing this part of our business into the future," O'Gorman stated.The company's tillage and beef business manager, Liam Leahy described all four finalists as "wonderful ambassadors in the farming industry" who had produced "a quality home-grown product that Ireland can be proud of all over the world".