THE Walsh family in Oranmore hosted the National Dairy Council (NDC), Agri Aware and children from a number of local schools to celebrate La Fheile Bainne on World Milk which was celebrated on Wednesday, September 27.

Galway dairy farmer Henry Walsh and his son Enda opened up their farm to a number of local schools in the area to show them at first-hand how milk is produced on a typical Irish grass-based dairy farm.

This celebration of Irish Dairy was not just limited to schools local to Oranmore. The NDC and Agri Aware Teams welcomed nearly 25,000 primary schoolchildren from all over Ireland who logged on from their classrooms to experience this live farm event.

Farming on the outskirts of Oranmore, the Walshs are strong advocates of family farms and in particular Irish dairy enterprises.

Henry and Enda, along with NDC and Agri Aware staff, took local primary school children on a journey to show how the milk that they have with their cereal in the morning is produced, processed, and packaged from grass to glass!

There was also a section on the benefits of dairy as part of following a healthy balanced diet presented by NDC Nutritionist, Dr Mary Harrington.

Henry Walsh is a dual supplier which means he supplies milk to two Irish milk processors, Aurivo and Kerry.

Agri-business representatives from both co-ops were there on the day to showcase how they take raw milk and process it for liquid milk to drink and other nutritional dairy products such as butter and cheese – products which nourish millions of Irish and international consumers across the globe.

Mark Keller, Director of Strategic Operations with NDC, said  that his was the first time they had held both a live and virtual event for schools to celebrate World School Milk Day.

“NDC runs the EU School Milk Scheme where subsidised milk is available to schoolchildren all over Ireland. Events like this provide a unique opportunity to highlight the importance of dairy as part of a healthy balanced diet and that five servings a day is recommended from 9-18 years”

Pictured: Marcus O’Halloran, Agri Aware; Enda Walsh, Oranmore dairy farmer; Aimee Gray, Agri Aware; Mary Harrington, NDC; Majella McCafferty, NDC; Robert Corroon, Agri Aware and Mark Keller, NDC pictured at the Walsh family farm on World Milk Day.