There’s an All Ireland champion in Emo today, following the success of local famer Eddie Mulhall at the 2017 Irish Malting Barley Excellence Awards in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin on Thursday afternoon.
The awards, which are organised by Boortmalt and hosted by Diageo, were originally set up in 1954 to acknowledge excellence in malting barley production and promote sustainability in the supply chain.
Minister of State for Food, Forestry and Horticulture, Andrew Doyle, presented Mulhall with his award.
“I am looking forward to bringing the Guinness Perpetual Cup to Laois,” said Mulhall, who lives and farms at the New Inn, near Emo. “It is a great honour to win this title, knowing the talented and skilled malting barley farmers who have held it since 1954.
“Our formula for quality malting barley starts with the sowing. I like to get sowing as early as possible, in a fine firm seedbed. I also use the Boortmalt recommended amount of nitrogen as early as possible, aiming for lower proteins and higher yields.”
Boortmalt is one of the largest malt producers in the world. Diageo is the largest purchaser of malting barley in Ireland, purchasing 130,000 tonne of barley each year. Diageo uses 300 tonne of barley each day to brew Guinness.
The regional winners were also announced and there was a strong local element to the winners in Carlow and Kildare as well.
Jonathan and Nassau Greene near Athy were the Kildare winners while John McDonald in Harristown on the Laois-Carlow border was the Carlow.
- Wexford and New Ross: Edward Harpur, Carrrig-on-Bannow, Co Wexford
- Laois: Edward Mulhall, Emo, Portlaoise, Co Laois
- Enniscorthy: Aidan Kavanagh, Ballydonfin, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford
- Carlow: John McDonald, Harristown, Co Carlow
- Kildare: Jonathan and Nassau Greene, Maganey, Athy, Co Kildare
- Seed Grower of the Year: John Donald, Fenagh, Bagnalstown, Co Carlow
Peter Nallen, CEO, of Boortmalt, spoke on behalf of the malting company.
“We were delighted to announce, earlier this month, the expansion of our facility in Athy in Co Kildare so that we can continue to provide our Irish brewing and distilling customers with a 100% Irish supply chain – from seed to malting barley.
“Today is an opportunity to come together to acknowledge the excellence in our supply chain and I would like to congratulate Edward Mulhall on his well-deserved win today.”
SEE ALSO – Former All Star launches bid for Laois County Board position
