Dairygold has announced all four finalists in its malting barley competition. This week saw the last finalists announced.

The winner will be announced at the Dairygold Tillage Conference on 17 January.

The highest-quality barley in each of the four regions is selected to go through to the final and the finalists are then judged based on their farm management and sustainability practices.

You can read details on the four finalists below.

Richard Lucey, north Cork regional winner

Dairygold area sales manager Michael English with Richard Lucey.

Richard farms in Ballyclough near Mallow with his wife Jan and four daughters. The family also runs a contracting business.

His Planet malting barley hit high standards at harvest time. There is a really good crop rotation on the farm, with beans, winter wheat, winter barley, winter oats and spring barley all being grown on the farm.

There is a mix of soils on the farm, with some light, free-draining soils and some challenging and heavy soils along the riverbank lowlands in the Blackwater Valley.

Richard soil samples regularly and makes sure soil pH is at optimum levels. He was an early-adopter of beans and continues to grow the crop on the farm.

Christy Ring, east Cork regional winner

Dairygold area sales managers Tim McCarthy and Dylan O’Gorman with Christy Ring.

Christy and his wife Kathleen farm on the island of Cobh and Christy’s brother Tony helps out in the busy spring and harvest periods.

They have a mixed farm, with dairy, beef and a large-scale tillage operation. Malting barley is the main crop on the farm, while maize and fodder beet are in the rotation, providing good break crops.

Maize is fed to their own livestock, but the majority of the other crops are sold off-farm.

The land on the farm is light and free-draining and Christy places a big emphasis on soil fertility, including both macro and micro nutrients.

Barry Good, south Cork regional winner

Dairygold area sales manager Ger Hanley with Barry Good.

Barry farms in Ballinvologe in Minane Bridge with his wife Lorraine and two daughters Sienna and Serena.

Barry is a postman by day and this fits in nicely with the work on the tillage farm. The land that Barry farms in undulating and has high fertility. Barry is near the coast.

Beans are the break crop on the farm, followed by winter wheat and then malting barley. He makes sure to farm crops that suit their sites.

Barry also grows forage crops and is in ACRES, which helps to maximise the farm’s earning capacity.

John O’Donnell, Tipperary regional winner

Dairygold area sales manager Tim McCarthy with John O’Donnell and his son Rory O’Donnell.

John farms with his family in Clonmore, near Cahir, Co Tipperary.

John has a great rotation on the farm, which includes beans, winter wheat, spring malting barley, winter barley and winter oats.

John sticks to a strict five-year rotation to contribute to high-yielding crops and to build his soil health and fertility on the farm.

John plants his crops using a Claydon drill, which is a strip till-drill that drills the seed directly into the soil. He has been using this drill for 11 years.

John is in the ACRES scheme and Dairygold said he implements a practical approach to biodiversity.