09 June 2025

Where to from here for the Irish dairy industry?

The Moorepark 2025 Open Day will offer a blueprint for the dairy sector’s future, with the emphasis on protecting and enhancing the fundamental advantages of our grass-based production system, Head of Teagasc Animal & Grassland Innovation and Research Programme, Laurence Shalloo writes.

Dairy farms can become more resilient by minimising reliance on external inputs, with grazed pasture as the system’s foundation due to its low cost and impact on profitability and overall sustainability.

In 2023/2024, homegrown forage made up 78% of cow diets; the target is to exceed 90%. PastureBase Ireland data shows that even in challenging years like 2023 and 2024 individual farms can grow up to 15t DM/Ha with the average at 12.4t DM/ha, compared to the national average of 10.4 t DM/ha, back calculated from NFS data. This highlights the potential for increased pasture growth to raise carrying capacity while reducing external feeds.

Embracing the EBI, with a cow suited to grazing systems, and embracing technology will reduce labour demand and increase work/life balance. A well-optimised system, where feed supply and demand are balanced, improves profitability, lowers emissions and enhances nutrient balance and biodiversity while providing an increasingly rewarding and satisfying work environment.

In the below video, Laurance Shalloo and Emer Kennedy outline what Moorepark 2025 has to offer:

Environment

Ireland’s agricultural sector faces increasing environmental pressures, particularly around greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Agriculture must reduce emissions by 25% by 2030 relative to 2018.

Methane dominates emissions from dairy systems in Ireland and recent developments show Ireland’s pasture-based dairy and beef systems have among the lowest carbon footprints globally, with recent figures showing Irish dairy at 0.88 kg CO2_e/kg FPCM. Research and updated emission targets set for the best farmers are 0.63 kg CO2_e/kg FPCM by 2030 and potentially close to 0.50 kg CO2_e/kg FPCM with sequestration included. Technology adoption and farm-level changes are key to emissions reduction, as is continued investment in research to develop new solutions.

Nitrate concentrations in water are showing signs of improvement. The EPA’s most recent ‘Early Insights Indicator report’ is showing declines in nitrate levels, albeit the south and south-east are still too high.

These changes are driven by policy changes under the Nitrates Directive, increased fertiliser N costs in 2022 and 2023, and greater focus on nutrient efficiency and management at farm level. This improvement, while welcome, needs to be sustained and will be underpinned by Teagasc’s Better Farming for Water campaign.

Food security

Debate is increasing around the use of human-edible food in livestock feed and its implications for global food security. Metrics such as the Edible Protein Conversion Ratio (EPCR) and Land-Use Ratio (LUR) indicate that Irish dairy systems contribute positively to human digestible protein supply.

Animal-sourced proteins offer superior digestibility and nutrient bioavailability compared to plant-based alternatives. However, there is a need for increased focus on the diet of the dairy cow. The reality is that as the industry increases supplementary feeds in a dairy cow’s diet, food security reduces, emissions increase, profitability reduces (depending on milk price and feed price ratios), while increasing the surplus nitrogen available for loss.

Technology at farm level

Dairy family farm income has significantly outperformed other enterprises since 2012, driven by increased cow numbers, land area and grass utilisation. While productivity has improved, rising concentrate use and static pasture production and utilisation since 2022 raise concerns.

Profitability in pasture-based systems relies on maximising grass use and maintaining dairy cow fertility. Improved six-week calving rates (now 68%) reflect progress, though they are still below the 90% target. Calls to increase milk yield per cow overlook the fact that profitability is more related to grass utilisation, input costs and the proportion of home-grown forage in the diet, rather than output. This fact applies in pasture-based settings around the world.

Dairy-beef

There is significant opportunity in our dairy beef sector, driven by increased use of sexed semen and high-value beef genetics. Sexed semen usage has risen from under 50,000 straws pre-2020 to over 350,000 in 2025, reducing male dairy calf numbers by up to 150,000.

The Dairy-Beef Index (DBI) guides the selection of bulls with traits suitable for both dairy cows to produce calves for beef production systems.

The National Genotyping Programme and Commercial Beef Value (CBV) help identify economically efficient calves early in order to provide the beef farmer with confidence around the quality of the calves being bought.

Transformation

It’s 10 years since milk quotas were abolished. The industry since then has been transformed. It has dealt with a pandemic, a war on the continent of Europe and now is dealing with the advent of tariffs and trade wars.

The industry is dealing with the challenge around generational renewal, requirements to reduce GHG emissions, uncertainty around the nitrates derogation and cost increases at farm level. The reality is that the dairy industry has a track record of embracing technologies while dealing with and meeting challenges head on. Who would bet against the industry doing the same over the next 10 years?

The above article first appeared in the May-June edition of Today’s Farm. For similar content and to access the full publication of Today’s Farm, visit here (PDF).

For more information and to plan your visit to the Moorepark 2025 Open Day, visit here.

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