Cookstown open day is a great success

The event was attended by over 400 dairy farmers from ten counties on both sides of the border including Antrim, Armagh, Cavan, Down, Fermanagh, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Tyrone and Westmeath.

The large selection of trade exhibitors on the day included AgriHealth, Bank of Ireland, Dairymaster, DARD, EasyFix, Flynn feeds, Glanbia, Interclamp, Finol, Lakeland Dairies, Lacpatrick Co-op, Pel Fencing, Philmac Fittings, RawlPlug Ireland, Snickers Workwear, Strathroy, Teagasc and Westaro Hosing.

Guest speakers and topics discussed on the day included Martin Mulholland, Senior Dairy Technologist, DARD - “Maximising dairy herd performance”, Dr Edmond Harty, CEO, Dairymaster “The importance of innovative ability in times of volatility”, Tom Ryan, Farm Management Specialist, Teagasc - “Farm buildings infrastructure”, Gareth Anderson, Nutritionist, Farmgate Nutrition - “Feed deficiency” and Sean Farrell, Head of Agri Sector, Bank of Ireland - “Supporting cashflow and growth through volatility.”

Light refreshments were served on the day and there were attractive special offers in the Cookstown Dairy service Agri & Hardware Shop.

A charity auction was held to support the Ardee Hospice with approximately €1450 raised for this worthy cause from equipment and products donated by the trade.

These included a Husqvarna Lawnmower (All Seasons), a Hitachi Angle Grinder (Herco), a barrel of oil (Finol), a fencer (Pel), a Dairymaster pack, a Philmac fittings pack (Philmac) and a Portable Mobile Milker (CDS).

According to Sean Reid, Managing Director of Cookstown Dairy Services: “It was important for us to give something back and spend the day with customers and to see new faces!

“The guest speakers provided great insights and we had received great feedback on the day since. The new technology show room created a lot of interest and highlighted the range of products and services on offer.”

According to Sean Farrell, Head of Agriculture at Bank of Ireland “the use of new technologies provided by Cookstown Dairy Services are welcome as dairy farmers strive to maximise output and margin from existing resources”.

Mr. Farrell said that “Bank of Ireland will be supporting customers through the on-going trough in prices and continues to fund those upgrading their milking facilities and farmyards.”

Dr Edmond Harty, CEO of Dairymaster congratulated Sean Reid and the whole team at Cookstown Dairy Services on their 30th anniversary. He said: “We are delighted to have such a great team working with us providing milk producers in Northern Ireland and the North Midlands area with such an excellent service.”