Three Laois growers picked up coveted awards at the Tirlán Quality Grain Supplier of the Year Awards ceremony.
From feed beans to food grade oats, the annual Quality Grain Awards programme recognises the excellence of the top-class Irish crops delivered by Tirlán’s 1,100 growers each year.
Three Laois-based growers are among the top award recipients. They include Robert and Paul Young from The Heath who took the Malting Barley award.
Portlaoise-based Mark Onions was honoured with the Seed Wheat top prize and the Green Oilseed Rape category winner was Edward Mulhall from Emo.
Paul Young farms a mixed tillage and sheep farm with his parents, Robert and Catherine, at The Heath near Portlaoise.
The Youngs grow both winter and spring crops using a plough-based system of crop establishment.
The farm operates a diverse rotation which includes fodder beet, spring beans and oilseed rape as break crops.
The main cereals grown are spring malting barley, winter barley (for seed) and gluten free oats.
The sheep enterprise is comprised of both early and mid-season lambing flocks. Catch crops and beet tops are grazed by the sheep over winter. Their Tirlán agronomist is Tim Scott.
Mark Onions operates a mixed tillage and suckler beef farm, also outside Portlaoise.
The main cereals grown on the farm are spring malting barley, winter wheat and winter barley, preferably for seed whenever possible.
Mark generally rents out some of his land for potato growing in order to generate the rotation break required to grow seed crops. Mark’s Tirlán agronomist is Tim Scott.
The third and final Laois category winner is Edward Mulhall. He runs a mixed tillage, dairy and beef farm along with his son James and their wives Kathleen and Grace in New Inn, Emo, Co Laois.
The tillage enterprise is a large scale, highly intensive operation, growing over 700 acres in total.
The rotation comprises a diverse range of crops including winter barley, winter wheat, oilseed rape (HEAR), fodder beet, gluten free oats and spring malting barley.
The Mulhalls are strong believers in crop nutrition and soil sample regularly which allows them to follow a fertiliser plan to best utilise nutrients and get the most from each crop. The Mulhall’s Tirlán agronomist is Barry Purcell.
Tirlán Chairman, John Murphy, said choosing an overall winner from among the 13 high calibre entrants was extremely difficult in a harvest year that was blessed with great weather, exceptional quality and high yields.
He said: “The excellence of our suppliers is something we in Tirlán never take for granted.
“Generations of commitment, knowledge and expertise are what set us apart from growers all over the world. We’re passionate about what we do and it shows in the high-quality produce that comes from our family farms.
“Our standard-setting growers are the cream of the crop. We commend them on the exceptionally high standards they have set and for their continued dedication to quality, best practice and sustainability and their commitment to the sector.
“In Harvest 2022, we took in our highest ever volume of premium grains and delivered an additional €3 million in bonus payments to growers of these premium crops.
“We remain firmly focused on adding value to our premium grains portfolio through our investment in innovation.”
Aoife Murphy, Director of Ingredients at Tirlán, said: “There has been a significant investment in cutting edge technology in our Innovation Centre, our team of Commercial, R&D, market insights and nutrition specialists, who work with our product management and marketing divisions to continuously develop our plant-based offering.
“Our high-quality Oat-based ingredients can now be found in a wide variety of food applications such as bars and snacks as well as plant-based alternatives; including drinks, ice cream and chocolate.
“We’re continuing to expand our portfolio, build our expertise and evolve our offerings for the future in line with growing market trends. Key markets include North America, Europe and Asia,” Aoife Murphy said.
John Kealy, Head of Grains at Tirlán, said: “We doubled our grain volumes in 2022 through our high-spec Oats Mill in Portlaoise.
“We have ambitions to continue to develop or milling capacity and extend our capability to take advantage of emerging market opportunities.”
As the largest buyer and user of premium Irish grains, Tirlán paid out circa €100 million to grain growers for Harvest 2022 with a grain intake of over 300,000 tonnes.
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