1 Farmers’ Social Licence to Produce

Qma 2022

The Connelly family from Tuam in Co. Galway were the winners of the 2022 NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards. Husband and wife team Austin and Yvonne are 4th generation farmers. Relatively new to dairy - Austin took over the family farm in 2003 and continued suckler and sheep farming until he and Yvonne took the leap and switched to dairy in 2019. They milk 97 Holstein Friesian cows on 120 acres and enjoy the family life balance dairying has allowed them to have with their four daughters –Ava, Anna, Jane and Kate who all play active roles in operating the family farm.

Bord Bia Bloom 2022

The NDC had a show garden for the first time at Bord Bia Bloom during the June Bank Holiday weekend in the Phoenix Park. NDC leveraged the opportunity to promote sustainable dairy production to 120,000 urban consumers over five days at the event, the garden resembled a rural dairy farm complete with an old farm gate, old farmhouse kitchen, cow sculpture and native Irish planting to demonstrate biodiversity in action on Ireland’s dairy farms. The garden won two awards –Best Medium sized garden and the Designers Choice Award.

Milk Quality Farm Walk & Seminar

The 2022 National Milk Quality Farm Walk took place on the farm of the McCarthy family in Feenagh, Co Limerick, who were winners of the 2021 NDC & Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards. There was a large turnout for the farm walk in idyllic weather conditions which was preceded by an NDC-hosted seminar on “Dairy and its role in sustainable diets of the future”. The event was held in association with Kerry Agribusiness, Ornua and Teagasc.

NDC Farmer Ambassador Programme

The NDC launched its Ambassador Programme in 2022 with 11 Farmer Ambassadors representing the cream of Irish dairy farming excellence. These individuals will work with NDC to promote positive stories on dairy farming through PR, events and speaking opportunities throughout the year. The ambassadors were photographed, and a video was taken of each, telling their own unique story and the efforts they are making to farm more sustainably, these sit in a special section on the NDC website, they also regularly appear on NDC’s social media channels.

NDC “From the Ground Up” Ad Campaign

The NDC produced the next stage of its marketing campaign – From the Ground Up - which comprised a new ad featuring NDC farm ambassador Tom Power, with sports ambassadors Vikki Wall and Paul O’Donovan. The shoot took place on Tom Power’s farm and showed the correlation between the hardworking farmers, and the work and dedication it takes to be a top-performing athlete. The campaign aired across Ireland’s TV stations and on BVOD, and was supported by a comprehensive social media campaign.