Tirlán grain awards overall winner 

14 Tirlán Quality Grain award winners commended for their crops

Fourteen of Tirlán’s top growers have been singled out for their dedication and exceptional attention to detail in growing top quality crops at the recent Tirlán Quality Grain Awards

Champion Food Grade Oats growers, John and Ann Deering and their son, Mark, won the coveted overall Tirlán Quality Grain Award for 2023 for the crops sown on the family farm at Morette near Emo in County Laois.

John Kealy, Tirlán Head of Grains and Minister Martin Heydon

Addressing the Awards, Martin Heydon T.D., Minister of State with responsibility for Research and Development, Farm Safety and New Market Development, commended Tirlán on adding value to crops and congratulated the award-winning growers on their dedication to delivering the highest quality grain, while also farming sustainably.

“I congratulate today’s 14 champion growers on their quality produce and commend Tirlán for its continued investment in research and development at its Innovation Centre in Ballyragget which I’ve visited previously and at its high-spec Oat Mill here in Portlaoise.

“In what was a difficult year for weather conditions, Tirlán’s growers produced top quality grains on farms across this catchment. They take immense pride in what they do, how they farm, how they nurture and respect the land. This dedication, passion and commitment to sustainability is what sets Irish grains apart. We continue to strive to find new markets and add value to this quality Irish produce.”

John Murphy, Tirlán Chairperson, said: “We’ve built strong capabilities in our Oat Mill in Portlaoise and in R&D with a view to maximising returns for our farm families. We continue to expand our plant-based offerings and we’re evolving our portfolio to meet growing global demand in key markets such as North America, Europe and Asia where demand for sustainably produced, fully traceable product made from quality Irish grains continues to grow. Our new Avonmore Oat Drinks are performing very well in Ireland and the Asian market, and we recently launched a new Truly Oat beverage range into the US market.”

Mark and John Deering, overall Tirlán Quality Grain Award winners

Overall winner, John Deering, was thrilled to take home two trophies. “We were fortunate to have grown premium crops such as gluten free oats. They suit the soil type and our field sizes. We plan to sow them again as soon as weather permits. The spring yield is likely to be slightly down on autumn sown but on the plus side, it’s a crop that doesn’t seem to mind the wet weather.

“We had taken a decision before the bad weather last year to move from a plough-based establishment system to min till. We did this for sustainability reasons and to also cut down on labour and on fuel. It posed a big challenge when the weather turned bad. If we had ploughed, we would have brought up dryer ground.

“For 2024, we plan to still manage about 85% min till but we have to plough some of the land. We have no other option. We’d hope to be back to 100% again. But not this year unfortunately. Because we’ve had such a wet Autumn, we’ve sown less autumn crops.”

J&C Sheridan, Sustainability Award winner

Sustainability Award winner, J&C Sheridan, were equally delighted with their win. Mark Sheridan shared his top tip for fellow growers who want to farm more sustainably. “Weather is a huge factor in modern farming. The timing of your fertiliser and getting the application rate right is key. Fertiliser has become so price prohibitive now that many enterprises are significantly reducing its use. We tend to use liquid fertiliser where possible – there is zero waste and it gets the job done.”