Who were the winners of the 'This is Dairying' photo competition?
An image of a young farmer keeping watch over a field of heifers was named the overall winner in a photo competition celebrating dairy farming.
The 'This is Dairying' competition run by Teagasc invites entrants to upload a photograph illustrating what they love about Irish dairying.
The purpose of the photo competition was to encourage farmers to share positive images of what they love about dairy farming to show the many reasons why dairy farming is an attractive career.
The photo competition, supported by FBD Insurance, ran throughout the month of June and received over 300 entries.
The winner and runner up were presented with their prizes by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon at the Teagasc Dairy Open Day in Moorepark, Fermoy, Co. Cork yesterday (Wednesday, July 2).
Imelda Kinsella, Ballyhale, Co. Kilkenny was announced as the overall winner of the competition.
The winning photograph taken and submitted by Imelda features her young son who is “keeping a close eye on the maiden heifers”.
The first runner up prize went to Anne Murphy of Castlemagner, Co. Cork for her image of "Crossing the Cows".
"Each evening as I watch on, I think of the important role these three play in our milking. No fuss, no fanfare just quiet purpose and pride in the job they do. This is dairying," she said.
There were also two further finalists chosen in the competition: Caroline Kiely from Co. Cork and Lorna O’Shea, Co. Kilkenny.
Commenting on the competition, Dr Conor Hogan, Teagasc People in Dairy programme manager, said:
“The judges had the difficult, but enjoyable task of looking at the over 300 entries and deciding on the prize winners.
"I would like to congratulate the winner and runner up, thank all those who entered for sending in such wonderful photographs. I would also like to thank FBD Insurance for their generous support for the competition.”
The overall winner received €500 in FBD vouchers, and the first runner up received €300 in FBD vouchers.
Both winner and first runner up received their photograph professionally framed as well. The two remaining finalists received €100 in FBD vouchers.
