Dairy farming in Northern Ireland has continued to make significant progress on its journey to a “more sustainable future” according to the chief executive of the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland.
Mike Johnston said the milk industry has continued to reduce its environmental footprint while still providing healthy, nutritious foods and livelihoods across the countryside.
Thousands of dairy farming families across Northern Ireland will today (Thursday, June 1) welcome the theme of this year’s World Milk Day.
The theme for this year’s international celebration of ‘all things dairy’ centres on the overall sustainability that is currently being achieved by the milk sector.
The McCormick family farm close to Bangor in Co. Down are just one of Northern Ireland’s 3,000 dairy farm families who eptiomise sustainable dairy farming according to the chief executive of the Dairy Council NI.
Johnston said: Our dairy farming families are the custodians of our countryside and the McCormick family is a fine example of sustainable farming that ensures the production of high-quality milk and provides the best possible product for consumers at home and across the world.”
But he is also very aware that “sustainability” is set to remain a core issue that must be addressed by the sector in the short term.
He said: “If we are to achieve the various targets that the Northern Ireland Climate Change Act has set, and those that our customers are demanding, we need to re-equip our toolbox in the coming years.
“We have world class research facilities and researchers in Northern Ireland and through a sustainability body industry and research will have the opportunity to come together to develop the tools that will allow our farmers and processors to continue to produce food to the highest quality at lowest carbon footprint.”
Johnston believes that the key to gather this research will be data.
“One of the key roles of a sustainability body will be to bring together the various data sources that are already out there, and that will be generated in the future.
“There is a lot of information, already available from a wide range of sources. However, it cannot be accessed from a single source: it is all over the place.
“Bringing it together will be highly beneficial, and will allow us to align all the elements of sustainability, including animal health and welfare,” he added.
Meanwhile, global demand for milk and dairy products continues to increase at around 1 to 2% per annum.”
Johnston said: “This trend may have slackened-off slightly during the Covid pandemic. But the long term trend for dairy consumption remains very positive
“What’s driving this is the exceptional quality of the protein contained within milk and dairy products.”