Local success in national innovation awards

New Quay dairy farmers in North Clare scored a major success at the 2010 JFC Rural Innovation Awards Ceremony held in Cavan on April 12, when the area provided two of the 13 finalists in the prestigious all-Ireland competition, which attracted more than 60 entries.

New Quay dairy farmers Bríd and Roger Fahy, along with their son, Pádraig, came away with a prize worth €1,500 as joint winners of the start-up/food category, while the Clare Farm Heritage Tours Co-op also claimed a prize worth €1,500 in the tourism category.This was the second big win for the Fahys, as they were the overall winners of the Farm Idea Awards competition run by Clare Local Development Company, winning the top prize of €3,000 in January. They qualified automatically for the JFC àwards, which carried an overall prize fund of €40,000.“It is primarily myself and my son who have developed the idea, with help from Bríd. My son Pádraig will do his Leaving Cert next year and he felt that it would be a good way to put himself through college, as it is only necessary to fill the milk tank in the vending machine each morning,” Roger told The Clare Champion.The Fahys, producers of Linnalla Farm ice cream, now plan to sell home-pasteurised milk directly to the public through a special milk-vending machine.According to Roger, consumers will soon be able to bring along their own containers to the vending machine, insert their coins and leave with cool fresh pasteurised, non-homogenised farm milk.
“The vending machine works away itself, keeping the milk cool, cleaning between each use, and it will send a text to your mobile phone when milk is running low. The benefit to the farmer is that he can deliver the milk in the morning, collect the money waiting for him and go home and milk his cows,” Roger explained.
“The benefit to the consumer is it is today’s fresh milk today that is pasteurised but not homogenised, so it is full whole milk and cream. The cost to the consumer will be less as there is no middleman. There is a move away from homogenised milk on the continent, where milk vending is popular due to the health benefits,” he added.
The company plan to place the vending machines in retail units such as greengrocers, where there is a high footfall and where people buy other stable products.
“The consumer comes with their own container, inserts their money and the machine dispenses the required amount of milk. The milk tank in the machine is taken away for cleaning each day and replaced with a fresh tank,” Roger added.
According to Roger, winning the award has proven a great boost for himself and Pádraig.
“Winning the award is great because we now know that other people believe in our idea and can see the potential in it and how it can work well for a small farmer. The help and mentoring are great too as they will hopefully help to make our plan a reality,” Roger said.
The Clare Farm Heritage Tours Co-Operative Society was also recognised at the JFC Innovation Awards.
The co-op consists of a group of farmers, based mainly in the Kilnaboy area. The group was formed in 2009 with support from LEADER, the Heritage Council and Burren Connect.
Each member of the co-op will be telling the ‘local story’ of their farm to visitors and how their farming practices interact with the unique heritage of the Burren and its environs.
They hope to commence their business in the next few weeks and have already received tour bookings from a number of groups.
The JFC innovation awards are run in conjunction with Teagasc, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development NI, the Irish Farmers Journal and Comhar LEADER.
According to Gerry McDonagh, rural development officer with Clare Local Development Company, both Clare entries received a lot of praise for their innovation. “Bríd and Roger’s idea got a huge amount of interest, given the price farmers currently receive for their milk,” he said.
“The Clare Farm Heritage Tours Co-op is an example of the Meitheal approach, which served farmers well down through the years. It is also a great example of how to use a local resource, such as their unique landscape, and generate an income from it with a small investment,” Gerry added.
Gerry believes that innovation competitions like the JFC innovation awards are of great benefit to people who have just started a business or who are just at the idea stage.
“While the €7,000 prize fund in the Clare Farm Idea Awards and the €40,000 on offer for the JFCs is a great incentive to enter, I believe that the expert independent feedback that entrants receive on their businesses from the judges is also particularly valuable,” he concluded.
The overall winners of the JFC Innovation Awards for Rural Business were Patrick and Peter Farrelly, of Farrelly Bros. Willow Project, Carnaross, Kells, County Meath.