A leading dairy expert believes that, in terms of milk price, Irish farmers have now “come out of the doldrums of two years ago”, adding that he believes “we will see a lot of stability now for a while”.

This was the opinion of former CEO and chairman of the Kerry Group, Denis Brosnan, who spoke to AgriLand at the Nuffield Ireland conference.

Brosnan was the keynote speaker at the event today, (Friday, November 16), which took place in the Castleknock Hotel, Dublin.

Continuing, Brosnan said: “Into next year, I believe it will stay pretty stable; there is no reason why it should dramatically move up or down as it did in 2015/2016.”

He outlined that he believes the biggest challenge now for Irish dairy farmers going forward is “environmentally-friendly, sustainable farming”.

He added that this will be the challenge “for all dairy farmers across northern Europe”.

You’re moving into the era of environmental sustainability now and one must prepare for that – because it is one of the biggest issues down the road.

Speaking before the event, chairman of Nuffield Ireland, Geoff Dooley, said: “Brosnan’s name is synonymous with Ireland’s agri-food success story as a result of his leadership and vision at the Kerry Group.

“We are sure that current, past and future Nuffield scholars will have a lot to gain from his insights and expertise.”

The 2018 Nuffield Ireland conference, sponsored by MSD Animal Health, also heard from six returning Nuffield scholars who completed their travels and presented the findings of their Nuffield reports.